Sail away

In days of old, sailing ship captains, of necessity, carefully planned their voyages. Using a compass, and a pair of dividers (set the distance apart a ship could cover in a day), they drew a zigzag line aiming to avoid hazards like reefs, sunken ships, zones with no wind, onshore currents, and take advantage of favourable winds and currents. Sailing ships had fragile bodies, and getting the plan right was a matter of survival.

Some people plan their lives like this – superannuation sorted in their teens, education carefully considered, career planned, children\’s school chosen, projects chosen with guaranteed success, academic papers published in the right journals, patrons found and wooed, housing sequence looked into, friends made who will line the path to cheer them on, retirement plans made, aged care facility booked well in advance.

Others stumble by chance into jobs, then other jobs, with no reference to a career, buy houses on a whim, insult potential patrons, find schools at random, have no financial plans, have some friends who will cheer them on while others sprinkle tacks along the path, retire by chance, avoid thinking about aged care until too late.

Guess it\’s too late for me to start charting my life path now?