practical life lessons

Are You The Sail Or The Rudder?



I walked into my bathroom today, and looked at the shower curtain that I've seen every day for the past year or so.  I picked it out because I love Lighthouses, and there are several on this shower curtain.  Then I noticed something for the very first time...a Sailboat, actually two different Sailboats.



Immediately my eyes were drawn to the sails on the boats all puffed out and full of air.  That's the first thing I noticed.  Then my mind began to imagine the boats skimming across the water going from one place to another.  I began to think about what it must take to steer a boat like that.  And that, my friends, is how this blog came to be.



So many times in life we try to complicate things, over analyze things, and frankly, make mountains out of mole hills in our every day life situations.  When in reality it's the uncomplicated, common, and child-like things that we should be focused on.  Sadly, we get caught up in the "sparkle of the diamond," and forget the diamond was once beneath the surface of the earth in complete darkness where it couldn't sparkle at all.



We think we can only achieve prestige by wearing a crisp three piece suit, or elegant ball gown instead of jeans and a t-shirt.  We have to have a $50,000 vehicle instead of a $10,000 one that will get us where we're going just the same.  We are completely enamored by the magnificent beauty of a giant redwood tree, but we don't give the unseen roots that have spread deep and wide to grow the giant tree a second thought.  We tend to become entranced with the physical beauty of a woman or rugged handsomeness of a man, and pass up the people with the kindest heart and most loving spirit because they may appear plain on the outside.   



So, as I looked at those sailboats this is what I came away with.  It's not the billowy, grand, showy, and beautful sails that steer the boat.  It's the simplistic, hidden, unpretentious, and unassuming rudder that steers the boat.  Then I asked myself a question.  Do I want to live my life being the sail or the rudder?  I know what my answer is......What is your answer?



Until the next time we talk........Stand firm on Philippians 4:13.

Love, Hugs, & Prayers,

~tf