Recently, I’ve been thinking a lot about a man who has had a major influence on my life. A man who deserves credit for many of the values and virtues I strive towards every day. A man who, if I have become a person worthy of respect, deserves my endless gratitude.
And yet, I’ve never met this man.
While thinking about him, something came to my mind.
You are on a ship called humanity.
When you were born and woke up on this ship, it had already been sailing for a long, long time.
It’s out in the open sea. It always has been. No one on the ship knows which port it sailed from.
And, more importantly, no one knows the destination.
Actually, no one can know for sure. But almost everyone has their own idea. Some even claim to know, even though that’s impossible.
Regardless of their idea about where the ship is going, almost everyone is doing something to keep it afloat, to keep the ship sailing in case that there is a destination, that there is a land to be reached.
But there are people who are telling you that it’s all meaningless and pointless. There is no land to be reached. Eventually, the ship will sink, and nothing that all the previous crew members have done will matter. The ship will probably sink long after you are gone and are replaced by another sailor. But again, it doesn’t matter. No effort to keep the ship sailing matters.
Nothing that you do matters. So why bother?
What they say makes some sense. No one really knows what the destination is, where it is, or how close or far we are from it. When you think about that, the effort it takes to be a good sailor can really seem pointless.
But then I notice something else: generations of sailors have done their part in keeping this ship afloat. Some of them had a strong conviction and a belief that they were helping the ship reach a specific destination. Some of them didn't give much thought to where this ship is going; they simply took their role as sailors seriously and showed up every day to do their part in our journey.
Whether it was through strength, wisdom, courage, creativity, or kindness, all of them pushed this ship called humanity a little further.
How could we dare say that their effort doesn't matter, that it was pointless?
So what if the ship sinks before reaching its destination? So what if there is no destination?
Doesn’t the journey itself mean something?
I don’t want to jump from this ship. So, what should I do?
Should I go around and tell others how our journey is pointless and that they should give up trying to make their contribution to this ship staying afloat? Or should I do everything in my power to keep this ship going a bit longer, a bit further?
I choose the latter option.
I don’t know if there is a destination for this ship or if it’s going to sink before reaching land. I would be lying if I said I didn’t care. But thinking too much about it doesn’t do anything for me other than tire me out.
On the other hand, rowing and being a decent sailor, no matter how exhausting, always felt good.
Yes, I want to do my part in keeping this ship afloat.
I don’t know and cannot influence how far it will reach.
But I can help it go a bit further, just like everyone else.
I can do the same as those sailors before me, and inspire the next generation to keep rowing.
To keep rowing, not for the destination, but for the next generation.
Recently, I’ve been thinking a lot about a man who had a major influence on my life. And yet, I never met him. It was through the values and virtues that he passed on to his loved ones that he reached me. It was by teaching and inspiring them to become great sailors on this ship that he helped me become at least a decent one. If he were not the great man he was, I probably wouldn’t be writing this today. Maybe I even wouldn’t be here today.
What he did and who he was mattered. It still matters.
The best way to repay him that I know of is to hold myself and you to the same standard.
When I think about him and this ship called humanity, it becomes clear: accepting the idea that nothing matters is just a pathetic excuse not to demand of yourself that you become at least a decent human being, if not a great one.
Let’s keep sailing.
Thank you.
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Beautiful essay, one of the most profound you've published here. I think you have explained through metaphor the foundation of your worldview and your work.