A Compass in the Night
“No progress can be made without first looking inward and asking ourselves what it is we want to be, and how do we get there.”
There are so many things I endeavor to be. Those things which both are reasonable and attainable, and then those taunting things which hang out of reach, fingers scrabbling at ill-fitting puzzle pieces. So much of life is asking ourselves what we can fit, what burdens we can shoulder, and slowly realizing we’re not meant to carry everything. Not every puzzle piece will fit quite the way I’d like.
And that’s okay.
It’s a conundrum of life, the way our responsibilities demand more of our attention, our money, and our most precious resource – time. It’s no wonder many of us feel adrift in a raging current, swept unceremoniously from one task to the next, all while trying and failing to find a foothold. A place to find refuge in the maelstrom, to find peace and simply breathe. Because in those moments where the world quiets, when it’s just us, our thoughts, and the disquieting ticking of our heartbeat, we try to remember who we are. Why we are here. What it is we sought after, when we set sail upon this ocean of life to find the treasure we knew was just beyond the horizon.
What happened to those pure kernels of desire? The driving part of us which sought to make our corners of the world a little bit better? I think somewhere along the way, when the horizon never got closer, when those nights stretched interminably longer, we forgot how to catch the winds which filled our sails. We listened to those voices in the dark, whispering deceit, thus pulling us off course. Another ship, stagnant in lifeless waters.
It’s in those moments I make my world smaller. For just a moment, I dismiss the burdens beset upon me, and I ask myself the question: “What do I want to be, and how do I get there?”
A compass in the night. One fashioned and lovingly crafted by the those pure desires still thrumming its song in my heart. When I quiet the world – when I sit and write – I still hear it playing a small, sweet melody. I can close my eyes and, even though certain responsibilities still demand my time and energy, I will determinedly sail my ship to the horizon. I will still find the treasure waiting just beyond it. Winds fill my sails again, and the forlorn night melts away, washed away by the brilliance of dawn.
What do you want to be, and how will you get there?
