Just for a minute think of yourself as a ship. Okay, you may as well make it a cruise ship since you love romance, excitement, drama, parties and food. Let’s call this luxury liner the Cruise Ship YOU. Oh my, it’s a marvelous ship! It’s a beautiful ship. It’s a strong ship. It’s like the Good Ship Lollipop but unfortunately it has been caught in a perpetual storm of chaos and clutter. It has lost its direction and has been tossed and thrown by the winds and weather in the sea of life! Whew!!
Now that I’ve got you using your imagination let’s imagine that your captain (your incredible mind) has just received information from above (a God Breeze) that there’s some place called the Organized Islands in Always Always Land. Your captain goes on the internet to check it out and reads testimonials from other happy travelers who have voyaged to the Organized Islands and love it there. One of them is Steven Sondheim. (Remember we’re using our imaginations.)
There's a place for us,
Somewhere a place for us.
Peace and quiet and open air
Waits for us
Somewhere.There's a time for us,
Some day a time for us,
Time together with time spare,
Time to learn, time to care,
Some day!Somewhere.
We'll find a new way of living,
We'll find a way of forgiving
Somewhere . . .There's a place for us,
A time and place for us.
Hold my hand and we're halfway there.
Hold my hand and I'll take you there
Somehow,
Some day,
Somewhere!
Your captain looks at her maps and realizes the Cruise Ship YOU is going in the wrong direction and if it wants to reach the Organized Islands, she must turn it around 180 degrees! She calls a meeting of her passengers (your emotions) and shows them this new information and sings them that song by Steven Sondheim, music by Leonard Bernstein. The passengers are ecstatic! They can’t wait to get to the New World! They’re ready to go NOW!
There’s only one problem; the crew! (Your habits.) See your crew has been used to the storm, the chaos, the sailing around in circles and being overwhelmed by the outside influences of the sea and weather (life). Your crew has to change before the Cruise Ship YOU can turn around and go in a new direction. The turnaround will take more energy, thought and action because your captain will have to be constantly directing the crew until it memorizes its new set of commands and that takes time. (At least 21 days.) Once the captain gets the ship going in the other direction then there’s not as much to do, however she can’t just point the bow of the ship to The Organized Islands and leave it at that…the waves of life will still buffet the ship around, and she will have to make adjustments for that.
In steering a ship, it’s really a case of multiple corrections and re-alignments as we sail toward our destination. It takes time, loving leadership and vigilance to turn you around!
We’ve been raised on Jiffy rice. We don’t want change to take so much time! We want change NOW! You’ll never see headlines like these on the covers of McCalls Magazine: Bathing Suit Body by June 2020!! or Get Your Home Organized in Just Three Years! or From Kitchen to Table in Five Hours or Learn Persistence and Patience in Four Decades.
Real change takes time. It takes time to learn and time to care, time to give, time to share. . . .oops I started singing and forgot I was supposed to be tying up this essay. Where was I? Oh yeah, it takes time to love our ship and the sea it’s in. Enjoy that time. You would never want to go on a cruise and get all settled and unpacked in your stateroom and have an announcement a couple hours later that you have arrived! Part of the excitement is the ride. Bon Voyage!! See you in the islands! Sometime, somewhere, someday.