Keep Checking Your Compass                                                                130311

 

            Those who sail know that there is need to constantly check their compass since this instrument tells them whether they are in the right direction or not. This is the reason why every sailor has to learn how to use a compass before they can go out to sea. Ability to use this instrument makes a difference between life and death for the sailor and all with him.

The difference between sea travel and road travel is that in road travel there are landmarks that you can constantly refer to when travelling and these can be used to tell the current position in relationship to the desired destination making it easy to progress in the required direction. Not so with sea travelling; there are no trees or mountains to direct you. Even if you are making no effort to move, you may find yourself drifting away due to the wind that often blows. What with storms that sometimes cover the sun; you may never know whether you are headed east or north.

            Life is like travelling at sea in more respects than one. Those that have travelled ahead may not leave landmarks for us to see. Even if we do exactly what they did, we may never get to the same destination. It is this lack of pointers that brings the need for us to constantly check our compass to determine where we are and in which direction we are going.

            When a storm strikes at sea, the ship is usually  forced to go off the course that the sailor wants it to follow, hence the need to sit down and use his/her experience to check the position of the ship and from there, mark out a course to where he/she wants to go. It is often in life that the pressures of the day make us unaware that we are drifting away from the direction that we are supposed to go.

            The reason why it is important to keep checking whether you are in the right direction is that if by any chance you drift off 10 degrees from the right direction, you will, as time goes on, find yourself going farther and farther away from the place you want to go. If you keep travelling in a straight line for a thousand kilometres you will find yourself about one hundred and eighty kilometres off the mark. This is a long distance but at the start it does not seem to make a big difference. The danger of being a small angle off the route is that you may never get to notice you are getting lost. For some distance you will still be able to see those in the right course. When you eventually realise you are lost, you may be in a position that makes it difficult to find the correct direction and if you are at sea, remember, there are no landmarks to direct you.

            As young people, we have to quickly learn the art of constantly checking the direction on the compass because it will be more vital as time goes on when we take over the reins and go sailing on our own. As young children we may have had chances to make choices but generally it was the adults who had the responsibility of directing the ship. As we grow old we will slowly be asked to take care of directing the ship until the responsibility eventually lies squarely on our shoulders when we go out of the 'nest' and become independent adults, looking after our own families.

            There are a number of questions that I believe can help us to check our direction effectively:

            Who Am I? This is a very important question because when it is effectively answered it will guide us on what we should do at that particular time. The answer to this question changes constantly as we do our daily duties. One moment you are a child the next you are a brother or sister or a student or an employee, depending on where you are or with whom you are. If at every time you choose to quickly determine who you are then the next set of questions become easy to answer.

            Where Am I? This is an important question in that it gives you the bearings of your current position, a prerequisite if you will be able to chart your way to the desired destination. Again this depends on the answer to the first question. You will definitely be in different positions as far as your relationships with different people are concerned. If you know your position then you are ready to answer the next question.

            Where Am I Going? As an individual there are different destinations that you are striving to reach in your various positions that you occupy in life. As a student you may be aiming for a distinction while as a child you are aiming to please your parents by being an obedient child. You have to know where you are going if you will get there. Someone said that if the ship is going to no particular harbour, it will end up at some other harbour anyway. If you are not planning to go somewhere you will still find yourself in another place, usually an undesirable one. If you are drifting in any direction that life wants to take you then no wind is the right wind. Have a clear picture of where you want to go so that you can make the necessary effort to get there.

            How Am I Going to Get There? You just have to map a strategy to get to your destination if you will eventually get there. There are many among us who have lofty goals in their minds but these do not often materialise because of lack of a plan. The sailor uses maps and a compass to make sure that the ship reaches its destination. This is important because the storms that come along the way will not hinder you if you have a picture of where you want to go and how to get there.

            When Am I Planning to Reach My Destination? This is a critical question to ask because it gives you a sense of urgency in accomplishing what needs to be done. It would be frustrating if you were sailing to a faraway country to ask the captain when you are going to reach the place and only be told that he does not know. When a ship leaves the harbour, the captain has a rough estimate of arrival dates. These may change due to difficult or favourable weather patterns but a day will be there when the captain intends to arrive at his/her destination. As individuals we need to have time frames in which to accomplish what we need to achieve or become.

            If you answer these questions effectively it becomes easy to remain within the right track. For example, if you are an employee who is at the lowest rung in the leadership of the company and hope to rise to the top, you may consider hard work and faithfulness as the way to achieve your goal in the next five years. Working hard on improving your academic qualifications may improve your chances of reaching your goal. If you do this in every area of your life then you have a great chance of success since a sailor who constantly checks his/her compass will never get lost.