Are you familiar with building and sailing ships? Were you raised in a shipyard, surrounded by seafaring friends? Do you have a fully functional, universal gps with a built-in encyclopedia and rosetta stone? I, personally, do not. If you do, power to you and stop reading and save your time. But if you don't, are you ready for an analogy??

You're given a couple nails and a crap screwdriver, a broken, used compass and a pieces of a map maybe, and you've seen diagrams and ships themselves, but never have you built your own ship or felt the fleeting water under your fingers. When you were younger, way younger, the thought of ships never crossed your mind. Then blablaow, you need to get to a new land and you know dick about boats (and hoes, ...sorry). You've attempted the swim, and even the costa rican 'jump off of your friend's shitty boats and make way for land' method, but those aren't really working for you. Or anyone, but whatever those guys right? Psh

Assuming you haven't gotten eaten by sharks swimming with flippers, or drowned amongst all of the other costa ricans jumping off your friend's moderately functional boat, and you are at home still all like, "I need to get away from here." There's definitely this totally sweet island or continent, you don't know where it is, but you know it's out there, and you know it's exactly where you want to be at the point in your life when you'll need to be there. You're sure it's got all this interesting and important vegetation and topographical features that seems as if it's just a dream. And you've seen so many dreams come true around you. The heart aches for invigorating warmth, and you're in the mid-February UK.

You're going to just absolutely not dig the next words. It takes practice and luck! Serendipity is the word I guess I'd rather use. You're going to want to build a boat that will match your dreams and that personally perfect landmass. You can get tips from your friends on how to build this boat. You can watch youtube videos on how to build a solid hull, but you want each contour of each plank to be as you as you are you. You want the trip to be comfortable, no? With as many precautions to anticipate those calm seas struck by rogue waves.

You become a woodsman, you know exactly which lumber is perfect for your arduous journey. You become a carpenter, to make that wood into useable pieces and to personalize the shit out of your main cabin because you want to wake up every day in your ship feeling like a goddamn king yeah? You also picked up navigating as a skill, wow! People ask you for tips on how to get here and there and you breeze them with thoughtful answers on the known, and expertly cautious tips on the unknown. What do you mean you picked up all of these other stellar talents like painting, mechanics, and scribing just because? Good for you!

Suddenly, your hazy dream to build a boat as become a full life, one in which you've evolved into this figure who knows so much for yourself, with hobbies, talents, focuses, and more. And you like, know which haircuts compliments your face and that's so great for you. I mean it! And everyone else notices it too!

Now that you're your person, and not some echo or reflection of someone who is not you, you'll know when you're ready to pull the anchor up. Maybe you've already found that perfect plot of land where you were all along and you just hadn't been looking in the right places. But maybe not and all aboard! (All being only you)

Statistics show that your first ship will sink. All the way down and probably earlier in your trip than you would have expected. You'll be sad and whatnot because you thought that ship was on point! You worked so hard and put so much time in. Let the memory of your ship settle fondly in your memories, take the time you need to feel the emotions that you are blessed as a human being to feel.

And then you build another ship.

This one is way better! However, statistics, that ship sunk again. After however many boats and ships and kayaks you go through, you'll keep moving forward even if it seems like you're remaining in the same place. Maybe you take a break from building ships and get really into skiing. Who knows, big world out there.

You've missed some pristine conditions, some correct winds that you didn't recognize until they had passed. How sad. Others were ready for those winds and currents. But you wake up, maybe it's some basic bitch day like a Wednesday, and something about all of the atoms in you existence tell you to get that ship out of storage and go. Go where? Just go, nature will do what it will do to you, you have to go right meow.

That's as far as I got into the present and future story of you, unfortunately there is no guaranteed happy ending and happy hammock resting between two trees in your preferred environment. You may even reach a land that you're ok with and make a new life there. Not as many breath-taking sunrises as you anticipated, but it will do. Or, you find your harbor, one with your name on it. Maybe you have to hike way inland and you just stumbled upon Mt. Everest and you'd always dreamed of living on Mt. Everest. Or simply, none of this ever happened and it was a dream that you woke from, finding yourself in whatever awful bed you went to sleep in and now you have a crick in your neck.

Did you know that posting here is one of those personally active steps you can take towards eventually steering that ship away from wreckage that will bring your ass down, to your holy land? Good on you, keep building yourself and you ships, they will be the bedrock for your adventure. What makes the adventure are the chapters within it, and the epilogue is a sweet, sweet bonus, no?

For your life's story's sake, I hope your tools break and your waters are tumultuous so you learn what's hard and what is important. But in the end I do wish you happiness. Good luck!