Can you help a rudder out?

It’s hard to believe that it has been nearly 22 years since the story of Jack and Rose aboard the RMS Titanic hit the silver screen. It has been 22 years since the argument began that Jack could have fit on that floating door if Rose would have just scooched a bit! It has been 22 years since “LeoMania” began with one iconic line: “I’m the king of the world”! Yet, beyond the fictional love story that captured the imagination of the world and a movie that would hold the record for highest grossing movie of all time until Avatar and Avengers: Endgame came along, the sheer size of the Titanic is the stuff of legend.  

One-hundred seven years ago when Titanic set sail, it was the largest ship ever built. It has since been surpassed but during its construction, the world waited with abated breath to lay eyes on this behemoth of a ship. The ship was as long as four city blocks and as wide as a four-lane highway. It’s nine decks made it as tall as an eleven-story building. Its speed was designed to top out at 24 knots (or 28 mph). However, on April 12, 1912 once the lookouts saw the iceberg, the officers yelled to turn but the rate of speed at which it was traveling, the rudders could not turn the ship fast enough. After impact, what was once deemed “an unsinkable ship”, Titanic was at the bottom of the Atlantic in 2.5 hours.

Why this trip down memory lane you may ask? What does something that happened over a hundred years ago have to do with us? For weeks now, I have been thinking on the function of a rudder – particularly on a ship. A rudder is a primary control surface to steer a ship. In larger ships (such as Titanic), the rudders are linked to steering wheels. The wheel of a ship is the modern method of changing the angle of the rudder to change the direction of the ship. It is also called the helm, together with the rest of the steering mechanism. I began to think on: who is at the helm of our lives?

When we have been headed in a certain direction for a long period of time, particularly at a high rate of speed, to change direction will take time. We have all developed patterns throughout our life. It is not impossible to change course but patterns are hard to break. It is, however, important to remember that we are to be the captains of our ships. It is our responsibility to keep our hand on the wheel and turn it to change the angle to alter the direction of our lives when we realize we are headed towards an “iceberg.”

If you are anything like me, though, impatience gets the best of you. You recognize that you want to head in a different direction; you realize the error of your ways; and you vow to make changes within yourself and your way of thinking only to quickly find out that adjusting course is a slow, often painstaking process. So, what do we do? Often, we take our hand off the wheel and allow ourselves to keep floating in the same, frustrating direction. However, committing to that new direction could be the best thing we ever do if we stay the course.

When babies take their first step and then fall on their butts, we praise the first step! We don’t criticize their fall. Couldn’t we as adults learn something from this? We spend so much time criticizing our falls and not enough time celebrating the small steps. We compare our progress to that of everyone around us - we engage in negative self-talk and believe the lie that we should be further along because of someone else’s journey.

Don’t minimize what you have accomplished. Pay attention to the tiny steps you took across the living room carpet on wobbly legs. Celebrate the small moments. They’re important. Those little steps will still get you to where you’re supposed to go. Baby steps in the right direction are still steps.

When you arrive at the end of your journey, wouldn’t it be amazing to chart your progress and rejoice that you made the necessary adjustments to change course no matter how long it took? Change is hard and scary but you know what is more painful and scarier? Regret!