OT: Different Ways of Navigating

We’re All in the Same Boat

We’re all in the same boat. We just have different paddles, and perhaps we find ourselves on different rivers. We all live in human bodies. These are the vehicles in which we move through our world. We are all made of flesh, blood, and bone, with brains, hearts, and lungs to power us. Our paddles—the tools we use to move through the world—vary, as do the bodies of water—the environments—in which we find ourselves.

Some of us use our high IQs to get where we want to go. Some of use our smiles, others use kindness, a gift with language, or athletic ability. Some of these qualities we were born with and others are skills we have learned. Considering this metaphor in light of your own life can be very enlightening. What tools are you using to get from point A to point B in your life? Chances are, you and the people you know have used many different tools in various combinations throughout your lives to get where you needed to go. Just as with oars or paddles, a balanced approach is best. If you rely too much on one thing, like beauty, to open doors, you fail to be well-rounded and you may eventually lose your equilibrium. And if you lose that one quality, you have no paddle at all. This is inspiration to develop multiple tools to navigate your world.

Some of us may be moving along paths that are like rushing rivers; others may be on a large, still lake. We have all felt, at one time or another, tossed about on a stormy ocean. Through all this, we are never really alone, even though it might seem that way. There is inspiration all around us in the form of other people making their way through the world, in the very same boat. Remember to look around you for role models, companionship, and encouragement.

I love the idea that we are an extended metaphor.  I use a combination of paddles.  For instance, when I drive to fast and get stopped, I never get a ticket.  Really.  I have never had a speeding ticket and I drive really fast.  When I was young, I think my smile and cuteness got me out of the tickets and now, I just give the officer that mother look and he says, mam, you were going a little too fast.  Need to slow it down. Not going to give you a ticket...  Well, you get the idea.  The rest of my navigational skills rely upon my brain.  I've always been a professional person dating back to graduating from nursing school in the seventies and then when that career ended, I am back in school getting a degree that doesn't require me to use my back or body and can allow me to rely soley upon my brain.  I'm not saying it all comes easy for me because it doesn't.  I have to spend twice as much time reading and rereading as the younger PhD candidates do and I have to stay ten steps ahead of my students.  So, my brain is my largest paddle. 
I also depend heavily upon rantional thinking and rhetorical analysis and argument.  I think for me the most logical thing is logical thinking. 
Good topic.

Hi Darlene....thanks for this post!!

My path is so long and winding....I hope I can find a shortcut soon!!!

Love ya...hugs....connie d

Jeannie, I often overthink things and find myself going in circles with no "exit" in sight. Sometimes I just make things too difficult. I think a combination is best. I think there are times when intuition and gut feelings are good. I'm just not always sure when those times are!

Darlene, I really like this one and it is so true. I think that we all have tools  that could stand to be sharpened and used. I know I do. I tend of think myself beyond almost breathing at times. Nothing wrong with thinking; it just needs  to have other "tools" used along with it. Thanks for the thought provoking post.

very interesting.....