"One ship drives east and another drives west,With the selfsame winds that blow.
'Tis the set of the sails, and not the gales
Which tells us the way to go.
"Like the winds of the sea are the ways of fate,
As we voyage along through life:
'Tis the set of the soul which decides its goal,
And not the calm or the strife."
-- Ella Wheeler Wilcox (Poet, 1850-1919)
I found this poem whilst trawling through results on old ship sayings and I fell in love with it at once.
When I dropped out of university due to a whole host of things I felt miserable and lost. Then mums health took a turn for the worse and she needed my help at bit more round the house. After a while my mum began to worry that I was neglecting my own future and so to placate her I went to college and signed up for a short counselling course.
Its been over a year now and I am firmly on the path to becoming a counsellor, from that first lesson I was hooked. If things had been different I would be a research ecologist now, counting bugs in a field.
The ship may have sailed on my chance to be an ecologist but I cant help but think that fate has led me this way.
Posts
What a great MM post! :)
ReplyDeleteI am glad you chose the path you did. I think it fits you perfectly!!!
A lovely elderly man first introduced me to that poem. He was one of the wisest people I have ever known and he loved the sea. When he passed away, this went on his tombstone in response:
ReplyDeleteUNDER the wide and starry sky
Dig the grave and let me lie:
Glad did I live and gladly die,
And I laid me down with a will.
This be the verse you 'grave for me:
Here he lies where he long'd to be;
Home is the sailor, home from the sea,
And the hunter home from the hill.
p.s. I love you boat
ReplyDeletelife has a way of choosing our path in life. I love the path you chose. Have a great Monday.
ReplyDeleteGreat MM Post! It is always good to find our purpose in life. I wish you well with the counseling future...
ReplyDeleteMy MM post this week involves cruising on the high seas.
peace, Villager
This ship as sailed, with a blog about ships! Come on over and check out my SHIPS! LOL
ReplyDeleteConsidering counseling was also my choice of a major in college, I think you picked a fine field of endeavor - or, maybe it picked you. Who knows! Just go for it and enjoy the trip!
ReplyDeleteAmazing where our ships take us in life, huh?
ReplyDeleteGreat MM post. Fate sometimes has a funny way about things.
ReplyDeleteIn a practical way counselling is better than ecologist, lol !
ReplyDeleteFate is a fickle ship, but sometimes it pays to go with the flow....
ReplyDeleteI love the picture! Good luck with coucelling.
ReplyDeleteIsn't it funny how life throws us curves all the time? Plans get set aside, rearranged, and ultimately all we can do is hope we find ourselves someplace we like or now how to get there.
ReplyDeleteIan
So now I know who to turn to for counseling. How cool is that?
ReplyDeleteI can see why you love the poem. Very well done. Have a great MM Claire. :)
ReplyDeleteIs that ship full of seamen?
ReplyDeleteWhat a great outlook on life you have Claire. x
ReplyDeleteLove the poem. I figure you are definitely going in the direction of the "set of your soul." I'm not playing the game today, but wanted to let you know I was here:-)
ReplyDeleteThis Eclectic Life
LOL @ Mo...
ReplyDeleteBeautiful poem Claire, thank you for sharing it today. I'm happy that your mum made you go back to school. And though I know you'd be a friend to all bugs (ahem, Henry?) I think you'll help so many people as a councelor.
I've always like the saying about the set of the sail... now I know where it came from.
ReplyDeleteThanks
That's great! the poem and your story. Life always hands us surprise endings. (and beginnings)
ReplyDeleteI love poetry - that is such a perfect one for you. I'm happy for you, that you know where you're sailing...
ReplyDelete(and maybe you can moonlight as a cartoonist - you're getting better and better!)
~~~Blessings~~~
Life has a way of taking us where we need to be. Best of fortune to you!!
ReplyDeleteAlice - I Was Born2Cree8
http://iwasborn2cree8.blogspot.com/
Reba @ Reba's Run
http://rebasrun.blogspot.com/
Funny how we're facing down one path, our lives will take an unexpected direction and we then find ourselves on the right path. All things happen for a reason my cheeky little friend!
ReplyDeleteA lovely post with a lovely poem with some "lovely" illustrations!