We were on the boat last weekend heading to our favorite spot when we saw a woman swimming in the middle of the bay.
We got closer and saw that she was waving her arms frantically. Then we saw in the distance, what looked like a boat sinking…fast.
There was another boat headed toward the sinking one, so we went to rescue the woman. As we pulled her in, she was screaming about her children. But there were no children in sight.
She said she went out for the day with a friend and brought her 2 children, ages 8 and 11. She noticed the boat was filling up with water and panicked. She grabbed her kids and jumped out.
A tiny fishing boat came by and was too small to take all of them, so she put her youngest inside and asked them to take him to shore. Her other son swam back to the boat out of fear.
As we approached the sinking boat, we saw her other son, and her friend, safe and sound with the rescuers. She was shaking with terror and crying in relief.
As we were taking the woman to the shore to get her youngest son, she told us a story that gave me chills.
She said that the night before she had a dream that she was in a sinking boat. She had a choice to jump out, or stay inside. So she jumped.
She thought it was just her nerves acting up, so she took the boat trip anyway. She even told her friend about the dream the next day and they just laughed.
Her story made me think about how often that we get messages that we don’t listen to.
We have a very powerful intuition, or “gut feeling”, yet we second guess ourselves and ignore it. Later we learn that we should have listened.
I know you have had a time in your own life where you knew what to do and didn’t do it. Or you had a funny feeling about something but didn’t listen to yourself.
This is especially true when you are pursuing your goals. If there is something you really want, there is a place inside you that knows how to get it.
And many times, there is something you really want deep inside that you are not pursuing, because of fear or doubt.
I have had a secret desire to write a book since I was a teenager. I never started it because I had 100 reasons why it wouldn’t work.
“I’m not a great writer. No one would be interested in what I had to say. It will be boring. There are a million books out there like it. I don’t know how to do it. It is too hard.”… and on and on.
Over the years, that voice that was telling me to write got louder and louder. So did the voice of my fears.
But I decided to try it anyway.
I have tried to quit many times since I started in May. My inner critic was front and center, telling me all the reasons why it wouldn’t be a success. Why I didn’t have time to write. But I ignored it and kept going.
I am happy to say that today, Saturday, October 18th, my book proposal is finally complete and it is better than I ever imagined. It took me 33 years to do it, but it’s right on time.
I am flying to Los Angeles on Wednesday to meet with a publisher who has expressed interest.
I never trusted that voice that was telling me to write all those years. I ignored it. Finally, I had the courage to listen and to honor that place inside me that knows my destiny.
You have that voice too. There is something that speaks to you, no matter how faint, that you know you need to do. But you don’t do it.
It is time to trust yourself. Feel your fears and doubts but don’t let them defeat you.
That desire deep inside you is part of your mission in this life. You will never have true fulfillment until you do it.
So get started. Don’t let your boat sink with your dreams inside. It’s your time!
