The man at the helm

Sailing a boat is a wonderful way to think about living a life. The winds, the currents and the craft of navigation all have something to teach us about making the most of the conditions we meet.

Choose a destination

Every navigator sets out with a port in mind. Life needs the same: know what you want to achieve and where you want to go, because that is what gives you direction and purpose. It never hurts to remember Seneca: if you do not know which port you are sailing to, no wind is favourable, and you will drift wherever it blows you.

Read the wind

The wind is unpredictable and always changing, like the circumstances and chances life brings us. Watching it closely means understanding the outside forces that shape our progress. So too with the people around us, who can be just as unpredictable, and with the ones who appear by surprise. Reading them well tells us when to be careful, when to seize an opportunity and when to steer clear of disappointment.

Trim the sails

To sail well you have to keep adjusting the sails to make the most of the wind. In life, adaptability is just as crucial: be flexible and ready to change your plans when you need to. Left to itself, a boat tends to turn its bow up into the wind and heel hard until it stalls. A good sailor never leaves it unattended, easing and hardening the sheets, luffing up and bearing away. Our lives need the same constant attention. And remember that under sail we cannot always point where we would like. Sometimes we run with the wind, sometimes we tack in a zigzag, and both get us safely home.

Respect the currents

Currents can help or hinder a boat, just as trends, social norms and cultural influences can help or hinder us. Understand the currents around you and decide whether to go with them or chart your own course. Let them carry you forward rather than drag you along. It is hard to beat a current head on, and you often have to sail at an angle to go straight.

Seize the moment

When the wind and current turn in their favour, experienced sailors make the most of it. In life, recognise the opportunities that fit your goals and values, take calculated risks and step out of your comfort zone when it matters. And be ready to wait patiently for the wind to change: sailing against both wind and tide is wasted effort.

Patience and resilience

Bad weather tests every sailor. Life too brings setbacks, and resilience is what lets us recover from them, with patience in uncertain times. Storms pass and calmer water lies ahead, though no calm lasts forever either. The Stoics had two good maxims for this. Amor fati, love of fate, teaches us to meet whatever happens with courage instead of complaint. Premeditatio malorum, the premeditation of evils, asks us to imagine what could go wrong, so that we are never caught by surprise.

Enjoy the voyage

Sailing is not only about arriving. As Antonio Machado wrote, the path is made by walking, and Mia Couto said it is not the destination that matters but the way. Focus on the present, find joy in what happens along the way, learn from the hard moments and value the people you share the journey with.

Embrace the winds and currents, trim your sails, and steer towards a full and purposeful life.

Pedro