As much as it is about courage, today’s graphic is also about getting out of your comfort zone. Let’s face it, being able to see the shore give us a sense of comfort and security. It is much more comfortable to sail up and down that shoreline, never losing sight of it, than it is to venture out so far that we can no longer see the shore. It can be a very lonely and frightening experience to be in the middle of the ocean or of a Great Lake. If you haven’t been paying attention the first thing that will hit you is that you have no idea in which direction to even look for the shore. That’s scary.
However, if you began this journey by preparing and having the necessary tools to navigate in the open water, you will know both where you came from and where you are headed. Assuming that there is something waiting at the destination worth making the trip for, you will be filled with anticipation rather than dread.
Life is such a journey. As children we tend to stay close to the shoreline, touching base with home quite often. As adults we learn to let go of the comfort of “home” in order to seek new adventures, new jobs, new relationships. Sometimes those early journeys don’t work out and we may end up back at home. Perhaps we didn’t like going away to college as much as we thought that we would or maybe that relationship that we thought was going to last forever suddenly fell apart. Any number of things may lead us back to home or cause us to at least touch that base again. Still, the pull of the unknown and the anticipation of what is on the other side, keeps us going back out, way from the shoreline. For most, a new shoreline or home base is established, based upon new relationships. Old, comfortable traditions give way to new traditions and new comfort zones grow to replace the old, abandoned ones.
The point is that one must let go of the old shoreline and bravely venture out where is cannot be seen in order to find what it waiting on the other side. One must break out of their comfort zones. Yes it takes courage to let go of the old; but dreams seldom happen right where you were standing. Dreams almost always happen just beyond the point where you can see the comfortable shoreline that you are currently on. Let go and venture out.
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