Navigating

At the age of 19 I joined the Coast Guard. I ended up at a small boat station located in Boston's Outer Harbor. One of the tasks we all needed to learn was how to read a chart. There were only four people assigned to a boat and everyone on it needed to know enough of what the others did so that if one became incapacitated, another could take over and bring the boat safely home.

Though I was an engineer, and keeping the boat running was my main job, I became fascinated with charts. All the known obstacles, shipping channels, strong currents, and landmarks were noted, and if one paid very close attention it was possible to remain safe out on the water.

If only life came with such charts. It would be so convenient to know that certain directions would cause one to run aground, and others had currents that would carry a person far away from the intended destination. Also, knowing where there were lighthouses to guide one safely into a calm harbor would make it all so much easier.

I suppose that living helps create inner charts. Negative experiences carve out the "be cautious in these waters" warnings, and positive experiences note where smooth sailing can be found. It is reassuring to have these available when storms blow in as it always helps to know the waters in which one is navigating when the seas start to boil.

Surviving rough seas takes luck as well as experience. I've got enough of the latter to navigate pretty smoothly, now I could just use a little bit of that luck.