Following up on the analogy of traveling through life in a
boat on the Colorado River along the Grand Canyon I thought we should further
consider the boat and the people who are with us.
It goes without saying that we should not try this voyage alone
– there are always people that we can and should invite to share our
journey. If you truly feel that you are alone – you
must remember that you can invite God along as your co-pilot. It is imperative that the people whom we
invite to share our passage are truly there for us. How often have we allowed someone to be
included who does not have our best interests at heart or who has battered us
with negativity and abuse? Our self
esteem is diminished by words and deeds of these people. We need to row the boat over to the nearest
shore and politely ask these people to leave our boat. We will re-enter the river of life – leaving
those folks behind. We can wish them
well and continue on our way. Our
emotions and reactions to leaving them behind is crucial to your personal and
future growth and success in life. We must continue on with peace and love in our
hearts. If there is any residual
negativity in our hearts we will continue to attract negativity into our lives.
Now that the negative influences have been removed from our
“boat” we must include people who fulfill several roles. In the real boats that navigate the river in
the Grand Canyon there are the experienced guides who know the way and
understand the perils as well as the grandeur that lies ahead. That person in our boat could be a personal
coach, a spiritual advisor (minister, priest, etc), a parent, anyone who
understands and sees with Greater Vision and is in tune with the vibrational
energy that is our universe. Our other
travelling companions must be people who love our real, inner self without
reservation and are there to encourage us to be our best. On the river everyone works together to
navigate the boat safely through the rapids.
The team in our boat should also
work harmoniously to help us through the turbulent times as well as to cheer us
on when life is full of wonder and beauty. Opposing forces will bring negative energy
into our lives. As the captain of our
life (“our boat”) we are responsible for all the choices that are made. When we were a child we were in the “boat”
captained and piloted by our parents. They did the best they knew with the
knowledge and skills they had. We have a new understanding of how the “boat”
should be captained and since we can’t take the “boat” back upstream – we move
forward with all the new tools and knowledge that has been revealed to us. How burdensome and useless to portage that
boat back upstream on our shoulders weighed down with past mistakes, anger,
resentment and disappointment. Now that we are adults we are in charge of who
comes along and must give love and appreciation to “our crew”. If we have children of our own we have a
special responsibility to demonstrate how the journey of life can be
accomplished with grace, love and gratitude.
We will make mistakes – no one comes through the passage from birth to
death without making mistakes along the way.
We must acknowledge our mistakes, ask forgiveness of anyone that we have
wronged along the way and remember that forgiveness is also freely given by our
Father.
Who is in your boat?
