How many of you have heard of Nathaniel Bowditch? Yeah, me neither, until I heard about him on the Celebrity Crush with Bill Nye podcast episode.
Nathaniel Bowditch was a self-educated American mathematician and astronomer. He is also the author of the best American book on navigation of his time. This book is still carried on most ships today and still stands as a gold standard of navigation. He loved math. He also made some incredible movement within business. (You can read more about him here https://www.britannica.com/biography/Nathaniel-Bowditch)
At the behest of Bill Nye, I picked up a children’s book called Carry On Mr. Bowditch and became an avid Bowditch fan myself. One particular passage resonated with me.
(Now forgive me, I am paraphrasing- The book has been returned to the library. But I think this is as accurate a paraphrase as any)
In the beginning of the book, Nathaniel, or Nat as his loved ones called him, was visiting the dock with his father. His father was an ex-captain of a ship but when he lost the ship at sea, he gave up sailing. In this excerpt, Nat is standing with his father on the wharf, after his father has made the decision to give up sailing. Their ancestors were coopers, or barrel makers, and his dad looks at him and says something along the lines of, “No, I think I shall be a cooper. Is that what I should do Nat? That’s a good thing to do isn’t it?” And Nat, eager to please his father as we all are so inclined to be, looks up and says, “Yes sir! Coopering is a fine thing to do!” Then he pauses, perplexed, and asks, “what exactly is a cooper?”
His father explains it to him and they are off on their way. But his father looks out to the sea, longingly, lost in his thoughts for a moment, and says, almost under his breath, “Coopering it is.”
His father lost his boat in the worst way possible. The book explains this. And even though countless people ask him to captain their ship, he always declines. He hung his sailing cap up for good. But his heart is at sea. His calling is the sea. So be it fear, or disappointment or something else, something is keeping him from living his greatest life possible.
I think about this often… about the greatest life I can live. And I worry I am not living it. Because, like coopering for Captain Bowditch, there is always an easier path. The one that is well paved, many people have gone before you, the world expects you to go this way. For Captain Bowditch, generations upon generations had traversed that path, been coopers, and done just fine. Those are your barrels. They are easy. They are there. They feel like sure footing and even ground. They are safe.
Then there is the sea. Perhaps like Captain Bowditch you have even ventured into your sea and come back defeated. Perhaps you have suffered great losses at your sea. The sea is not predictable. It is not safe. It is not a well paved path. You may have to be an explorer, the first of your kind, the trendsetter who makes this a path. Perhaps, the sea scares you. But so long as the sea calls to your heart, it is your destiny and IT is the greatest life you are capable of living.
Are you forsaking your sea to make barrels? What is keeping you from your passion and your mission driven life? Whatever it is, fear or hesitation or complacency, it is not important enough to sacrifice the one shot you have at making a difference.
Forget your failure, embrace your challenges, and go conquer your sea. And if you need some help along the way, IgniteDDS is here to help. Just email us ([email protected]) with your problems and we will reply with some potential solutions.
Nathaniel Bowditch was a self-educated American mathematician and astronomer. He is also the author of the best American book on navigation of his time. This book is still carried on most ships today and still stands as a gold standard of navigation. He loved math. He also made some incredible movement within business. (You can read more about him here https://www.britannica.com/biography/Nathaniel-Bowditch)
At the behest of Bill Nye, I picked up a children’s book called Carry On Mr. Bowditch and became an avid Bowditch fan myself. One particular passage resonated with me.
(Now forgive me, I am paraphrasing- The book has been returned to the library. But I think this is as accurate a paraphrase as any)
In the beginning of the book, Nathaniel, or Nat as his loved ones called him, was visiting the dock with his father. His father was an ex-captain of a ship but when he lost the ship at sea, he gave up sailing. In this excerpt, Nat is standing with his father on the wharf, after his father has made the decision to give up sailing. Their ancestors were coopers, or barrel makers, and his dad looks at him and says something along the lines of, “No, I think I shall be a cooper. Is that what I should do Nat? That’s a good thing to do isn’t it?” And Nat, eager to please his father as we all are so inclined to be, looks up and says, “Yes sir! Coopering is a fine thing to do!” Then he pauses, perplexed, and asks, “what exactly is a cooper?”
His father explains it to him and they are off on their way. But his father looks out to the sea, longingly, lost in his thoughts for a moment, and says, almost under his breath, “Coopering it is.”
His father lost his boat in the worst way possible. The book explains this. And even though countless people ask him to captain their ship, he always declines. He hung his sailing cap up for good. But his heart is at sea. His calling is the sea. So be it fear, or disappointment or something else, something is keeping him from living his greatest life possible.
I think about this often… about the greatest life I can live. And I worry I am not living it. Because, like coopering for Captain Bowditch, there is always an easier path. The one that is well paved, many people have gone before you, the world expects you to go this way. For Captain Bowditch, generations upon generations had traversed that path, been coopers, and done just fine. Those are your barrels. They are easy. They are there. They feel like sure footing and even ground. They are safe.
Then there is the sea. Perhaps like Captain Bowditch you have even ventured into your sea and come back defeated. Perhaps you have suffered great losses at your sea. The sea is not predictable. It is not safe. It is not a well paved path. You may have to be an explorer, the first of your kind, the trendsetter who makes this a path. Perhaps, the sea scares you. But so long as the sea calls to your heart, it is your destiny and IT is the greatest life you are capable of living.
Are you forsaking your sea to make barrels? What is keeping you from your passion and your mission driven life? Whatever it is, fear or hesitation or complacency, it is not important enough to sacrifice the one shot you have at making a difference.
Forget your failure, embrace your challenges, and go conquer your sea. And if you need some help along the way, IgniteDDS is here to help. Just email us ([email protected]) with your problems and we will reply with some potential solutions.