The Ship Hasn’t Sailed

There is a familiar phrase that has been rattling around in my head: “That ship sailed long ago.” We say it about opportunities we missed, abilities we have lost and things we assume we can no longer do.

Sometimes we may say it with a laugh. Sometimes with regret. And sometimes with such certainty that we never stop to question it. Has the ship really sailed?

Or have we simply decided there was no longer any point in walking toward the dock?

We do this so easily. We take something we cannot do today and quietly turn it into something we will never do again.

Remember: Today is data, it is not destiny.

What we can do right now tells us where we are beginning. It definitely does not tell us where we have to remain. The danger is not in being unable to do a pull up or dead hang. The danger is in deciding that our present ability deserves the final word.

There is no shame in modifying a movement. There is no prize for beginning at the hardest level. And there is certainly no rule saying that progress only counts if it looks impressive.

Strength Does Not Arrive All At Once. It is invited back one small repeated effort at a time.

The more I thought about the “ship has sailed” phrase, the more I realized this was not really about pull ups and dead hangs or for that matter any one particular ability.

How many ships have we declared sailed because beginning again would feel awkward, slow and humbling? Like learning something new, changing the way we eat, starting a project, rebuilding our balance, using our voice, asking for another chance.

Sometimes “too late” is in fact, a fact. Life does have real limitations, and not every ability can or should be reclaimed.

BUT, here is the thing: Sometimes “too late” is a story we repeat because it protects us from the discomfort of trying.

So if we declare that the ship has sailed, we no longer have to risk wobbling at the dock. We no longer have to be a beginner. We no longer have to discover what might still be possible.

I am not suggesting that everyone should do pull ups and dead hangs. That is not the point. The point is to become curious about the things we have decided are over. Who made that decision? Was it based on something that truly cannot be changed, or on something that has not yet been practiced? Perhaps ask, what would the gentlest possible beginning look like? Maybe the ship you once imagined has sailed. Maybe you cannot begin the way you could have ten or twenty years ago. But look again.

There may in fact be another boat at the dock. It may be smaller. It may move more slowly. It may require patience, modification and a willingness to look a little wobbly while you learn.

But it can still take you somewhere.

So please do not let what you cannot do today decide what you will never attempt tomorrow.

The ship may not have sailed.

Perhaps it is simply just waiting for you to take the first step toward the dock.

💚The Accidental Blogger