Someone Else’s Dream

The other day my lovely wife and I were watching Youtube sailing videos. No big surprise there. Here’s what did surprise me. One of the channels had put out a request for crew to help on a longer passage. My lovely wife asked if I wanted to go. While it was tempting, I decided to pass on it for various reasons.

Of course, they might not have wanted me, but there are a lot of boats looking for crew. I have some experience and being retired I’ve got the time. Odds are that someone would have wanted me along.

Here’s the downside from my point of view. Those trips are someone else’s dream. Some were tempting as they were going places I want to go to. However, being honest with myself, I realize I want to be sailing to those places on my terms. For example, I might be willing to wait a day or two for good wind conditions. A different captain may be in more of a hurry and decide to motor on through.

While it might be fun to crew on another boat, it would take time and money away from fulfilling my own dreams. How often in life are we working towards another’s dreams rather than our own? How many of us have forgotten our dreams entirely?

Helping someone else could be useful towards your own dreams. Someone may be looking for experience to see if it’s something they really want to do. Perhaps they are jumping at the opportunity to learn skills. That’s all well and good, but never lose sight that you are doing it for your own reasons.

-Sixbears