Sailing my Own Ship

One of the best things that did come out of my first marriage was that I went on an Outward Bounds course to learn how to sail, but learnt so much about life. Normally I was so quiet, frightened to say anything because I would be criticised or called stupid. My ex-husband was so dismayed that as we drove back from Birmingham New Street train station to home a hour away all I wanted to talk about was the course and what I'd done, rather than wanting to hear what he had done all week whilst I had been away - should have been a warning signal then, but you ignore those when you think that you're in love. I was in love with an idea and so was he, for most of the time we were never truly in love with each other, and certainly not at the same time.

Anyway, one of the things that I still hold onto from that course is the saying "Ships in harbours are safe, but that’s not what ships were made for." That got me to Belfast to push my comfort zone and I had a great time, meeting people and seeing Brian Kennedy in concert in his hometown, and hopefully that will get me to Dublin in April.

I didn't learn the next saying on the course but I also keep this one with me: "I am not afraid of storms for I am learning how to sail my ship."

The photo below is a picture of the boat that my son and I made when we all went to Enginuity at Ironbridge a few years ago, which is a hands-on museum attraction. (My son is from my second, current and much happier marriage!) They were having a "build your own boat and see how it does" day. This is our boat...

xx