Sometimes in my reading, I discover a unique quote that speaks eloquently what I want to say for myself. In this case, it speaks about the New Year.
Taking these words to heart for 2016 will matter a whole bunch.
The beauty is that in metaphor form, the quote touches each of us in a different way.
We could suggest we already know this stuff, have heard it often and it makes little difference. But what if we were offered the words with the added inference that an authentic life might depend on how we interpret and live them? That’s a good way to start a New Year, don’t you think?
*
“I have studied many times
The marble which was chiseled for me
A boat with a furled sail at rest in a harbor.
In truth it pictures not my destination
But my life.
For love was offered me and I shrank from its disillusionment;
Sorrow knocked at my door, but I was afraid;
Ambition called to me, but I dreaded the chances.
Yet all the while I hungered for meaning in my life.
And now I know that we must lift the sail
And catch the winds of our destiny
Wherever they drive the boat.
To put meaning in one’s life may end in madness,
But life without meaning is the torture
Of restlessness and vague desire
It is a boat longing for the sea and yet afraid.”
__Edgar Lee Masters.
It would also matter if we were to enlist the support of a community or coach in examining the impact of these words on our lives. That’s my project for the beginning of 2015. What is yours?