The Ocean Of Life.

(The need for balance between Reason and Passion).

It is not always ‘Plain Sailing’.

As living beings we humans are all attempting to be the best ‘Me’ we can be in the life that we try to navigate our way through as best we can with what has been given to us.

The world we live in consists of many delicately balanced, but competing, ‘areas’ or factors that are polarised – that is they consist of a spectrum with two distinct and opposite poles. From things such as electric charge (or spin) existing within individual atoms, to extremes of temperature (hot and cold), or of light and dark, ‘good’ and ‘bad’, positive and negative, left and right, etc, etc.

Some are defined relative to ourself, to our ‘usual’ state, such as hot or cold, etc. Some of us feel hot when others feel cold, even though the temperature may be the same for both. Some might think a temperature of 100 degrees F is ‘hot’ while others may think ‘hot’ is a temperature that would melt steel. It’s Relative. However not all areas have a relative spectrum, some are absolute polarities also. There is no colder temperature than -273.16 degrees Celsius for example – that’s as cold as it can get, while the other end, hot has no known limit.

Our navigation in life can be via 2 polarised means: we can be self-driven, moving according to our own will and power in a direction and speed of our choosing, under our ‘direct’ control, or we can simply drift and let ourselves be drawn along by the undercurrents that affect all life in and on the Ocean.

I think the vast majority of us like to think we do the former while in reality most of our life is spent doing the latter, while having a kind of feeling that we are still doing it ‘our way’

For those who make the conscious decisions and use their will to direct their life (always bearing in mind – being Aware –  that the vessel we ‘sail’ in might be ours to control but the vast Ocean of Life is definitely not under our direct control and can sometimes move us at speeds and in directions we did not wish to take) there are 2 major tools that are of vital importance to how successfully we navigate the great Ocean of Life.

The Prime Motivator, or engine, of our vessel we sail in is our Passion, an emotional energy form that drives us and gives power and direction to our little craft. The greater our Passion, the faster and more forcefully we drive our ship, overcoming those weaker currents that may lead us off our course and having the power to push against opposing currents to some degree. It helps channel our vessel’s strengths and aligns them into the direction our will wishes to go, again, in proportion to the strength of the Passion within us, that is given towards a particular goal or direction we wish to get to: our (next) destination, whatever we may have chosen that to be.

Having more than one Passion will result in us having less energy able to be applied to them than if we had a single Passion, meaning we are less likely to achieve the particular destination we had in mind that we donate our Passion(s) towards.

While Passion is the Prime Motivator for our vessel we need the other vitally important tool if we are to be successful in achieving our destination in the most efficient fashion (we only have a certain amount of time here to do all we might wish, so wasting time is not all that good or practical an idea).

The other tool is our Reason – our intellectual capacity to determine what we want and why we want it. It is this that decides the destination we wish to achieve in life and sets the most likely course to get us there in the most appropriate time and with the greatest ‘enjoyment’ – life is not ALL about the destination, you should be able to enjoy and appreciate fully the ride along the way.

To successfully navigate the Ocean of Life to our chosen destination it is important to find the correct Balance between our Passions and our Reasonings – having too much, or too little of one over the other is counter-productive to achieving our goals. Both are needed and at times one may be needed more than the other, but it is necessary to always ensure that we do not let one dominate the other for any significant portion of the journey to whichever destination we set ‘sail’. Our Passion can be seen as the Wind in our Sails, or the Engine in the hull and the Propellor, pushing us through the water and waves, while our Reason can be seen as the Rudder and Wheel with which we steer the vessel.

The Ocean will, at times, throw things up that surprise you. Expect The Unexpected along the way to your destination – you need to keep your wits about you at all times.

As any real ship’s Captain knows well, an understanding,  and maintenance, of both the ship’s steering mechanism and driving force mechanisms is essential to ensuring you get to where you want to go in a safe and reliable way. Especially when you are the only one on board.  Having a reasonable knowledge of the Ocean and it’s natural tendencies (that often may be at discord with those you would choose had you that power) is also of considerable advantage when trying to achieve your destination, allowing you to decide whether or not to attempt certain journeys when the conditions are unlikely to allow you either a safe or successful voyage.

You have both a brain and a heart for good reasons… use them with wisdom, but use them.

Find and expand your Passion. Develop and improve your Reason. Take an interest in and understand more about the World/Ocean you live in/on. Then you may just get the most out of this life’s journey.

It can be a beautiful voyage –  making the best choices increases your chances.

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