Page 4 - Wealth of Wisdom 2017

Ballast
A small boat comes into view: it has two disproportionately large sails, which are almost twice the size of the boat itself.
The boat is blue and the sails are of a paler blue. The blue colour of both the boat and the sails strikes me as unpleasant.
The boat pitches and tosses as it sails amidst the mighty and menacing, foam-crested waves.
Even the sun is hidden from view. Only clouds and thunder ll the sky, making the scene even more sombre. A man appears on deck, and heads for the afterdeck. He attempts to move the tiller, putting all his strength into trying to move it. The deck is crammed with boxes and crates.
You might have already realized that when we speak symbolically, as here, of a boat or ship, we are referring to a person who is getting on with his life. So the ship can be seen as a representation of oneself. We have also shown some other things as symbols, such as the ballast, the crested waves in the water, the blue colour of the boat, the light blue colour of the sails and the fact that the sails are over-sized.
These are all details part of the image that we would like you to look at. Each one of us can be considered as a boat. This is not to say that everyone will recognize the same symbolism, but what can be said instead is that: “Everyone goes through life whilst learning his lesson in life along the way”.
On the basis of this symbolic image we can begin to ask: what does this mean for you? So everyone can distil some form from it and thereby gain a greater perspective about oneself.
You may be wondering: if I am actually ‘on the way’, why does it appear so menacing, and why does my boat have such large sails?
A sail can of course help us to move forward. But if it really is too big it shows that the external pressure that
is being exerted upon the little boat is far too great. Because when the wind pounds the sails, the boat moves forward, but if the sails are too big they catch too much wind. You can see the wind as an external force that
is exerted upon you and you experience this as too great a pressure. Examples of this could be such things as family problems, or stress from work commitments.
The cargo on deck shows that we all carry a lot of ballast. This can be due to the lessons the essence has brought along. It could also be an attitude that we have taught ourselves, in the hope that by concealing ourselves we have more control over our own lives and our environment.
But this cargo can nevertheless have a huge impact on you personally. It affects your nervous system, how you live your life, and your relationships with other people.
We really hope that you are able to see the bigger picture of your own ‘personal ship’, of your own life’s journey, of all the ballast you carry with you, most of which is actually not necessary.
This is because the threats – such as the dark, ominous clouds and the presence of the turbulent water – are all things that a person considers to be outside pressures. I, as the boat, cannot say anything, for “I must just go with the ow of all the external forces in order to move forward”.
All these forces, be they clouds, sea or wind are experienced by human beings as ballast, as outside pressures. Even the man who stands at the tiller pulling on it, shows that a person can sometimes be desperate to take another direction in his life, but because of external pressures he thinks he doesn‘t have the strength to beat the recurring situations in his life.