You Must Point Your Sail Before You Launch

You can’t be a procrastinator in business! It is not fair to your customers, your marriage any of it!

You keep saying these words they are warning signs for your business.

On a recent phone call with my coaches they laid down the framework of tough love . Words very similar to those above punched me in the mouth or perhaps gut. Punching holes in the side of the boat I had been sailing in for so long.

I had been going about this all wrong. Wandering in the sea of my own past. Believing the lies I had been told. Treading water above my self-inflicted misery.

It was the time that I point my sail and use these fresh winds of truth to tack and jibe towards my dreams.

As we worked through some more difficult questions in preparation for upcoming consulting, one of them, in particular, gave me a dose of smash mouth love.

For many years, as long as I can remember, in fact, I have always done things my way. Never open to critiques or criticism no matter the source. My arrogance and ego pushed everyone to the edges of my life’s sphere, including God.

I pretended to have it all together. Confidence oozed out of me as I walked through life, leaving a trail of carnage in my wake. I started a cycle of destructive self-speech that I began to believe.

Words I heard growing up became a part of the threads of my humanity.

Weaving through me until all I saw in my reflection were those words. Covered with scars like, “stupid, loser, lazy, sarcastic, mean, idiot” and much more. Buried deep inside these words, these wounds, I was covered inside, protected by a false identity.

While on the call I was faced with some words of tough love. Words that made me reflect on ‘who’ I am, and ‘who’ I wanted my brand to be, or me to be. Realizing how demoralized and broken these things made me, later that night I fell to my knees.

Shame, I think it was the shame that swallowed me like the ocean.

Click To Tweet

I was covered in my guilt. These words I had been saying over myself for so many years, they were now a part of me. Crippled by own past, stunned by the reality that I needed to change.

Could I change? I wondered.

A better question would be, could I change in time?

I had poured my soul into what I thought was my dream, only to have the winds knocked out of my sail. I have come too far to be the “quitter” I once was. This was my dream, and it was worth fighting for.

“Take courage! It is I. Don’t be afraid.”

“Lord, if it’s you,” Peter replied, “tell me to come to you on the water.”

 “Come,” he said. ~ Matthew 14:27-29

Words that resonated in my head as I prayed. I had been spending many years hiding behind my own pain. I had noto had the courage to step out of my past.

It is the time that I start to follow him, even on rough waters he will guide me.

This is just the beginning as I set out to sea on a new adventure. I may need to tack the sail and prepare for rough waters ahead. When you put your trust in those chosen to guide you, and most of all in put your trust in him.

Even the gut-punching, smashmouth love has a purpose in molding you into who you are to become. The truth I am facing is a jibe in my path, but I am heeling into its path, and my own healing will overcome as I enjoy the wind of the journey that lies ahead.

What about you? Have you been drowning in the words someone else cast upon you? Have you been able to trust in him enough to find the living water?

I would love to hear your stories of redemption and turning the tide. Share below how you too were able to adjust your sail and traverse the immense sea of your life’s journey.