“A Ship in Harbor Is Safe at Port, But that Is Not What Ships Are Built For.”

Have you heard this quote before? I forgot about it until the other day when a beautiful friend of mine said it over coffee and now I can’t stop thinking about it.

How many of us stay in the confines of our comfort zone, while knowing there is so much more inside of us, so much we were BUILT for. How many of us are existing, but not living? I wondered, have I become a tip-toer, even though my heart was built to leap?

I imagine this big, majestic ship with a sturdy hull, enormous sails, and beautifully constructed to the highest degree. It looks breathtaking docked at the port. It’s safe there. It’s serene after all, and predictable. That ship is safe at the port.

But was the ship built for the port? Hell no. Not in the slightest. It was not designed to be docked forever. Its purpose was not to be pretty, unmarred, and still. No. That ship was built to slice through tempests and to ride whatever waves the ocean threw its way. That ship was built to MOVE, to sail, to explore the uncharted horizons. That ship has a destiny that lies beyond the harbor, and it was made to take the adventure and welcome uncertainty, knowing it was built for just that.

Look at all of us human beings out there who doubt what we were made for. We know there is more for us, we know we have it in us and yet there we sit in the proverbial comfort zone allowing the wind of fear and uncertainty to penetrate our minds and lock the dreamer at port. Throwing down anchors and sitting there. Immobile like a ship at the dock.

As humans, our minds and our souls are that ship. We have our safe routines, our cozy comfort zones, but how will we ever know what we were truly made for unless we leave the dock and have faith that we were built for more?

I know I am a ship meant to sail. I was built for creativity and challenges and change, and even though I might get some scars along the way or have to redirect my sails when the wind decides to blow me off course, I have never SUNK. I don’t sink. I have weathered every storm life has thrown at me, and I always came out on top. I came back stronger.

It made me wonder about the times in my life where I chose to hang at the dock instead of set sail. It gave me a new perspective, hearing that quote the other day and I can’t stop thinking about that big vast ocean of opportunity, and I’m eager to get back in the waves. Fear is an anchor and I'm cutting those chains.

I was not built for the port, I was built to sail. We all are.