After a wonderful journey to Finland, Sweden, Gotland, and Poland, we are now back from our Mein Schiff 1. One sentence from that time has stuck with me – the last line from a captivating film about the sinking of the Vasa in the museum of the same name in Stockholm.
“If the Vasa had been seaworthy back then, we wouldn’t be able to visit it today.”
For those who haven’t been to the Vasa Museum in Stockholm: The Vasa has nothing to do with crispbread. The Vasa was a royal warship that was launched in Stockholm, Sweden, in 1628. It sank just a few minutes and nearly 1000 meters after setting sail on its maiden voyage in the harbor. The Vasa was only rediscovered and salvaged in 1961. Today, it is the best-preserved museum ship with 98% of its original parts – an impressive sight.
Back to this sentence: “If the Vasa had been seaworthy back then, we wouldn’t be able to visit it today.” What if everything in our lives eventually makes sense? Of course, the sinking of the Vasa was a tragedy, and at first glance, there seems to be nothing positive about it. Yet, only a few hundred years later, as visitors, we are almost grateful that it sank back then. Because that’s the only way we can admire it today and gain insight into the history of seafaring. As Albert Einstein said, everything in life is “relative,” so we don’t need to ponder the sense or nonsense of things like sinking ships. It happened, it’s a fact. Whether it was good or bad depends solely on our perspective. And we can’t change the fact, but we can change our perspective on what happened.
What if everything in your life eventually makes sense? Maybe not today or tomorrow, but perhaps in a few weeks, months, or years. Then, you would recognize what you learned from past experiences to apply them today. What if your entire life is one big gift? Our challenge is that some of these gifts come wrapped in rather plain paper. Nevertheless, they are gifts.
While Anke and I were on board, we attended a workshop on the topic of “Vision Board.” The workshop leader asked who had a Vision Board at home. We and another lady raised our hands. Upon closer examination, we realized that we already live our Vision Board every day. With every little detail? No, certainly not. Is everything always perfect? No, definitely not. But it’s like wearing blue glasses when things don’t go well, looking for the positive in the situation. Because the longer I get upset with others, the longer I hold onto the poison and hope that the person I’m upset with will keel over. That won’t happen. That’s why I’ve learned over the years that everything is a gift. And how I handle this gift determines what kind of gifts await me in the coming days and months. And eventually, you’ll realize that you’re already living your dream life. #GRÄTERLIFE
What if everything makes sense? With this question, I wish you a fantastic week and hope that it becomes easier for you to embrace this thought.
