Is it time to drop anchor

 Anchors Away!

This morning I heard a fog horn….well maybe it was  just my snoring since it’s winter and there is probably not much shipping moving through the Great Lakes headed in most directions.  Also  given the relentless breezes called wind chill the surface of Lake Huron  is a gnarly  wash machine and I suspect. Most water craft are in dry dock or anchored  down safely somewhere.  

so that  inspired this… let’s think about anchors and peace and joy.

Well since  the 10th century  a lot of anchors. Are exactly the shape you see in most tattoos or on Popeye”s muscles.  This design emerged  some time around the tenth  century.  Now there are other shapes  that have been developed because we have other materials and ideas about what shapes  hold best on what underwater surfaces.   No matter the shape, an anchor is used to keep the ship from being wrecked or to hold it at a certain. Point in the water.  It is for safety, however, are all anchors  really safe?  

Anchors in Time

In seeking peace and joy we need to take a fresh look at Anchors.  So many times we have anchors that just plain stop us from sailing.  

Anchored in the past

When we anchor to the past it is so tempting to regret what is happening now and regret something we did at some point before now.   When we anchor in the past we keep looking back and are dragged back by things we already experienced.  While this gives us an opportunity to gather the lessons  we might learn from a past experience we have difficulty  applying  those lessons to in the seas ahead.  

Anchoring in the Future

We also anchor in the future  putting limits on when and where we might go and what we might choose to do given the waves and currents the world presents.  Do we spend so much time following the chain  to the place we think we need to be that we miss  the treasure that might be near by or just below the surface where we are right now.   At this time of year we are still into  resolutions and pursuing most goals we set for the new. Calendar.  Are these goals future anchors?  Once we reach them will we sit there unable to move in other ways?  

So what about being anchored right now?  Well if that gives us a chance to steady the ship then there is. Some value in using an anchor.  If we are making our ship stable and steady so others can climb aboard to sail with us or adding. Folks to row  along…well a temporary anchor from time to time. Might have some value, yet as time passes we need to stay aware. Enough to know. When that anchor is dragging us  into a situation  where we are anchored to our past.  

In short, we’re not saying. Anchors aren’t useful.  It is, however, important to know where and when you are anchored to.  It is  important to know how long you have been anchored and  it is important to know  that there comes a time to pull up anchor and drop the chain in a way that you can move the ship of your soul.