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I can’t go to a destination that I
don’t have or hit a target that I can’t see. My statement of purpose
tells me where I am going and why I am going there. It focuses my mind
on my target and keeps me from wasting time and energy on unimportant
issues that don’t matter.
My statement of purpose is my roadmap. It keeps me on the right path
and helps me regain my bearings if I lose the way.
My statement of purpose protects me from outcome-oriented thinking. The
Life Long Disoriented never move forward until they are one-hundred
percent sure of a positive outcome. If they have any doubt, they
dither, delay, and don’t move ahead.
I keep moving in the direction of my dreams regardless of the outcomes
that happen along the way. My statement of purpose liberates me from
the tyranny of outcome-oriented thinking. As long as I remain true to
my purpose, I know I will reach my dreams.
Copyright © 2013
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My multihull dreams started when I was an intern at Gorgas Hospital in
the Panama Canal Zone in 1974. I watched the early multihull designs
transit the Panama Canal and head out into the South Pacific. They were
homemade cats and tris constructed by their owners who literally built
their dreams from the keel up. Most of them spent four or more years
creating their dream machine.
Those hardy sailors were multihull pioneers. First, they thought their
dreams, then they built their dreams with their own two hands, and
finally they sailed their dreams. After seeing those early multihulls,
I remember telling one of my friends that someday I would sail around
the world on a multihull.
Over the years, I met a lot of naysayers and dream stealers who told me
that only a foolish person would sail long voyages offshore on a
multihull. On one camping trip in a remote section of Saudi Arabia, I
mentioned to a fellow camper that I was sailing around the world on a
catamaran when I wasn't working in Riyadh. The camper remarked that I
was a very brave person to be sailing offshore on a cat. I asked him
why he felt that way. He told me that catamarans were dangerous because
they flip over at sea. I wondered how he knew so much about the dangers
of offshore sailing, and he informed me that he had sailed in a
single-handed race across the Atlantic ocean in a monohull sailboat.
Later, he told me that during his attempted solo voyage across the
Atlantic, his yacht had been struck by a freighter, and he had to
abandon ship because his sailboat sunk in the middle of the Atlantic.
It struck me odd that this self proclaimed expert on the dangers of
sailing catamarans had his own monohull sink out from underneath him.
Although this person had never sailed on a catamaran offshore, he taught
me a valuable lesson. I learned that it's unwise to pontificate about
things in which you lack experience and have no first-hand knowledge.
I do a fair amount of talking about catamaran dreams these days, but I
have a right to, because I have sailed around the world on a cat. I'll
tell you up front that catamarans not only make excellent offshore
yachts, they also are SAFE. They are so safe that I loaded my family on
board and took them on an eleven year voyage. They are so safe that we
never felt fear at anytime during our entire trip around the world ,
even during storms.
The only person qualified to tell you that you should not sail around
the world in a catamaran is another person who has already done it.
Anyone else is simply uninformed and is spouting their prejudices about
offshore sailing.
The corollary to this point is that if you want to live a dream, the
only person who is qualified to advise you about your dream is someone
who has already done it.
Don't listen to the naysayers and dream stealers who live in Nowhere
Land and who have done nothing with their life. Instead, talk to the
Unstoppable, Consistently Positive, Endlessly Persistent, Doers of
Dreams, and take their advice. They know what they are talking about,
and if you follow their lead, it won't be long before you are sailing on
the ocean of your dreams.
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