Life is like a voyage at sea.
You can be, do and have anything that you want.
Choose a destination,
Chart a course,
And set sail on your dreams.

Without goals and dreams we are like sailboats lost at sea directed by the vicissitudes of life’s winds and currents. When we set goals and take action towards our dreams, we transform ourselves into majestic schooners cutting purposely through the sea of life with winds of grace filling our sails.

Voyage to Destiny: Sailing to Success is a guide to uncovering the treasure that lies buried within us – the riches of our goals, childhood dreams, passion for life, and unlimited potential for success. This book is full of practical techniques to help the reader set goals and deliver high impact results that will improve their lives materially, spiritually and emotionally.

Introduction

A book must be an ice axe to break the frozen sea within us

. — Franz Kafka

I don’t know why it is that all of us are so committed to the sea, except I think it’s because in addition to the fact that the sea changes, and the light changes, and ships change, it’s because we all came from the sea. And it is an interesting biological fact that all of us have in our veins the exact same percentage of salt in our blood that exists in the ocean, and, therefore, we have salt in our blood, in our sweat, in our tears. We are tied to the ocean. And when we go back to the sea—whether it is to sail or to watch it, we are going back from whence we came

. — President John F. Kennedy

You are destined for greatness. Every fiber of your being yearns to realize your dreams and fulfill your potential as a human being. There is nothing between you and the deep blue sea to prevent you from the material, spiritual and emotional well-being you deserve. Or is there? Abraham Maslow said, “In practically every human being, and certainly in almost every newborn baby … there is an active will toward health, an impulse towards growth, or towards the actualization of human potentialities.” The sad fact is that so few of us make it. Somehow in the journey of life, in a fog of external expectations, counterproductive emotions and broken dreams, we have lost our way.

That is, until now. The simple metaphor of the sea is guaranteed to help us navigate to the treasure and riches of our personal dreams. The myth of the hero’s voyage into the seas of adventure is a tool that will reintroduce clarity and vision back into our lives. The question is, “Are you going to live the myth or let the myth live you?” As Kennedy says, we are tied to the ocean. The metaphor of an ocean voyage for the personal journey toward our dreams resonates strongly within us; it stirs the spirit, quickens the blood, reverberates in our hearts and inspires us to get our lives back on course and to become the best we can be.

Ultimately, we all come from the sea. All life on earth evolved from marine plants and animals from the Precambrian Era more than 600 million years ago. The chemical makeup and salt content of our embryonic fluid, our blood and our tears are remarkably similar to that of the sea.

You will find, as you read through this book, that the analogy of sailing voyage is a perfect fit for your journey to self-actualization. In my research, I kept expecting to find another book that expounds the same ideas. While I found many references to the sailing metaphor, none provided it as a coherent and usable central theme. We have at hand this richness of metaphoric language, cultural literacy and mythic currency whenever we speak of the sea. We use this valuable imagery practically and effectively in our daily vocabulary to express our feelings and illustrate the journey of our own lives. We talk about being high and dry, in the doldrums, dead in the water, three sheets to the wind and between the devil and the deep blue sea. You could be a potato farmer plowing his fields near Twin Falls, Idaho, and still want to stay on an even keel in the eye of a storm, come hell or high water. We all know what it’s like to weather life’s storms, to have the wind taken out of our sails, to go with the flow or be on the right tack because we experience these feelings in our everyday family, work and social lives.

The journey to personal success and the sailor’s ocean voyage are markedly similar. If you want to realize your dreams, you must first choose a destination, chart a course and set sail. It’s your life—you can be, do and have anything that you want. This book is your guide to uncovering the treasure buried within you—the richness of your childhood dreams, your passion for life and the potential to realize your greatness. Using this easy-to-understand metaphor, and the practical techniques and methodologies found within the pages of this book, sailing to success will be a breeze. If you interact with what is written here you are guaranteed to see compelling results that will improve your life materially, spiritually and emotionally. It is my profound conviction that this metaphor will become a following wind in your life to help you to find your true purpose and realize your dreams.

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