PRACTICE: Revisit the “why” behind a regret in your life.
Pictures on my phone remind me that last summer I spent time on several large bodies of water – oceans and seas. I remembered standing/sitting looking out at the beauty of each and thinking of my mother who had an unhealthy fear of water and/or a lack of trust of vessels that sailed on water. She was known to say, “That’s more water than you could drink,”. She implied, if she couldn’t drink the volume of water she saw, then it was too much and should be feared. Of course, she was right! One can’t drink water in the Bering Sea nor can one drink the water that fills a bathtub or kitchen sink.
BUT one can take advantage of what is offered and made possible by both. A ship carried me across the water, allowing me the chance to experience sights, sounds, smells of places I would have never seen otherwise. A tub of hot water allows me to soak weary bones after a day of labor. Neither sailing or soaking would be possible had I not trusted that the ship could transverse the water or that the tub could hold water. Trust meant that I could venture from the gangplank or put my foot over the edge of the bathtub.
The possibilities and potential of our lives are as numerous as the fishes of the sea. We are unable to fathom all that is held in the depth of the sea. Had I not trusted that a vessel could sail the icy waters of the Bering Sea, I would have not seen the snow capped Denali Mountain Peak or met dogs being trained for the Iditarod.
My mother didn’t trust that a boat could safely transport her over a body of water. Therefore, she denied herself of a host of possible experiences. Where is a lack of trust hindering the fruition of some of your potential? I don’t know if my mother had regrets about not ever being on a boat. I do know I regret not ever having had the experience with her. She would have loved seeing the ripples created in the water from a moving vessel.
Ecclesiastes 10:8
PONDER THIS THOUGHT---Comfort is death to new experiences.
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