Each ship, no matter the size, needs a captain: the one who knows where the ship is heading & why, who leads the way & who is responsible for the ship. The captain is the one to blame if things go really wrong. Like in the case of the Titanic, for example, many contributed to the disaster, but only its captain was fully responsible for what happened. Guess what? On our life ship, there’s no one to take full responsibility for what is going on except us. We can try to blame God, fortune, circumstances & other people however much we want. It doesn’t change the fact. The cockpit is ours.
I have a cousin who is a sea captain with rich experience in leading vessels of different sizes: from yachts to cruise ships. I am thrilled to hear his stories of how he traveled through the Bosporus Strait, the Red Sea, or across the North Atlantic. He showed me pictures of his cockpit. For me, it looks very confusing, but not for him. He knows what each device is there for, how to interpret its measurements & when to adjust it so that the ship can stay its course through the dangerous waters of the open sea & safely reach its destination. In those critical moments of bad weather conditions, the calm & resolve of a skilled captain is a matter of life & death for everybody on board.
Our cockpit looks no less confusing & scary than the cockpit of a cruise ship. I am talking about our unique personalities: way of thinking & decision-making. While some people assume that they can create themselves however they choose to, I personally believe that God uniquely wired each of us & we have to discover our God-given gifts & talents. The less time we spend struggling our way against our nature, the more harmony we can find in our lives, which will allow us to build a solid Personal Brand that is true to who we are instead of trying to create a fictional persona that will harshly resonate with the reality. There are tons of personality tests that can be helpful in our self-discovery as well as close observation of what brings us joy, what we are passionate about & what character traits other people notice in us.
All of it may look & sound confusing at first, but the more we dig into it, the clearer the picture of a unique personality created by God in each of us will be. By discovering & setting up the myriad of devices that make us who we are and drive our decision-making processes, we ensure a successful journey for our entire ship, no matter a small one of tackling a new job or a huge one of resettling in a new country. If our understanding of who we are as God’s creation & the way other people perceive us is going to be in tune, we can go far & wide & successfully achieve our destination.
