PAUSE – 15.16 – Are You Tending To The Tugs?
Reflection: Seaports are fascinating places.
What I most enjoy watching are the tiny but powerful tug boats as they guide the larger Mother Ships in from and out to the sea.
Tugs are built for action not for show – rarely shiny nor streamlined in shape or finish. But despite their lack of polish, the port would be a mess without them. They’re essential in moments of transition.
Watch them at work and you’ll see they apply pressure in different ways. Some nose in at a right angle to the ship and nudge from the side. Some work in tandem from both sides at once.
Some tugs latch on up front and tow the ship in the desired direction. Some push from the rear – adding power from behind to guide the ship through the water.
Tugs help ships avoid collisions, come safely to mooring, navigate through tricky channels, and head confidently out to the open sea.
Action: As we navigate the murky waters of our everyday lives, we too rely on tugs. They may not be as visible as those in port, but they are present nonetheless.
They take the form of whispers in the back of our mind, twinges in our gut, tugs on heartstrings, or images caught from the corner of our eye.
A tug is an idea that beckons from afar like a light in the distance. It’s an opportunity that draws like a magnet. Tugs can seem all but irresistible in a ‘resistance is futile’ sort of way.
In our own times of transition the fog of uncertainty can shroud our normally trustworthy lighthouse or North Star. It’s then that tugs help us navigate our way though to the next safe harbor or on to the next great adventure.
Pay close attention this week to the tugs that are showing up in your world and the clues they offer about what next and what now.
Watch for them. Listen for them. Heed their guidance. They’re an essential part of an internal GPS that maps out where you are, and points out where you’re headed.
Quotes Of The Week: And suddenly you know: It’s time to start something new and trust the magic of beginnings. – Meister Eckhart
Insight is not a lightbulb that goes off inside our heads. It is a flickering candle that can be easily snuffed out. – Malcolm Gladwell
A hunch is creativity trying to tell you something. – Frank Capra
Resources Of The Week: Here are a couple of related articles you might find interesting:
- The Things Highly Intuitive People Do Differently by Carolyn Gregoire
- Go With Your Gut: How To Use Your Intuition to Succeed In Business by Lewis Howes.
Readers Write: In response to a recent message, He Didn’t Have To Do That, Pause reader KG writes: I particularly loved this issue of Pause because the karma and kindness brings a smile to my face and tears to my eyes. How touching it feels when you help out others. Just leaves you beaming and feeling good all day, doesn’t it? I am keeping this in my ‘keep’ electronic filing folder to look at from time to time.
Tags: attitude, focus, inspiration, intuition, knowing, learning, overload, overwhelm, Pat Katz, Patricia Katz, pause, perspective, purpose, Saskatoon, speaker, stress, success, wellness
perfect as I am ‘tugged’ toward my retirement date and although there were initial doubts, I am now certain and set and oh so content with the tug that got me headed in this direction. So many new adventures for this old gal and I am ready! Thank you Pat for the timely post…although I am a week late in responding, it has been on my mind…
Sounds like this tug has you headed in the right direction for you. Wishing you smooth sailing ahead.