Safe Harbors

by Rick Stecker

(This post first appeared on Substack as “Safe Harbors” – Subscribe here.

Scanning the sky this morning, I saw low, dark clouds moving quickly across the skyline. They sped hurriedly over the horizon from south to north, masking the early morning sunlight rising in the east.

In such conditions, sailors of a past time would seek shelter in safe harbors before heading out onto stormy waters. We ourselves most often look for ‘fair winds and following seas,’ the oft-used term for good luck at sea, before venturing out.

With inflation emerging as an ominous rising tide covering our economic shoreline, we all find ourselves searching for safe harbors. But in this case, safe harbors may be hard to come by.

Another saying that has come back into vogue in our current environment advises: “Never let a good crisis go to waste.”

And while that phrase sheds ominous overtones relative to events in our pandemic past, there may be one aspect that presents a more positive outlook regarding current circumstances.

Finding ourselves deterred from living our lives even as we came to know it with Covid, we might want to set a course for a more promising safe harbor.

While some hunkered down during the pandemic years, others found new ways to navigate. The point is, find something new and creative to fill your moments. Sail into new environments of grace and benevolence—the safe harbors that offer respite.

I’ll bet many of you have said, ‘someday I’ll write that book,’ or maybe ‘start that blog.’ Now’s the time to write. I did, and it helped me express energies I might have otherwise repressed.

Link up with people who are facing the same circumstances but doing so with resolve and ingenuity rather than some sort of calamity. It can make all the difference.

Those who operate from a faith perspective, listening to the Spirit of Truth for guidance, may find unexpected benefits flowing into their lives from places they never anticipated.

There are many unexplored opportunities that if we set sail for them will leave us in tides of triumph. We will find fair winds and following seas.