This morning, a quote came to me, along with a flurry of other emails sent to my inbox. It is a good one, I’m sure. But here is the thing about the quote. I am not a sailor. Nor have I ever been aboard a sailing boat. Whenever I’ve gone on the water, the power behind the vessel was either by paddle or motor. Never the sail.
So the quote from Jim Rohn is mildly ambiguous to me. In it, he says:
“It is the set of the sails, not the direction of the wind, that determines which way we will go.”
I am also a mildly intelligent woman, and I think I understand what he is implying. Maybe. I think he says we are in control of our course. But again, since I don’t know sailing, the context of this quote becomes difficult for me to take at face value.
Let’s just say the wind is blowing to the southeast. But it only can muster little puffs of a breeze — less than a mile per hour. And our sails fall flat. Or will they still work? Perhaps the wind is gusting at 90 mph. Can our sails withstand that sort of wind? Or, for the sake of good weather, let us suppose the wind is blowing at the perfect speed, and it solely depends on the set of the sails. Is this something that must constantly be adjusted, or can we tie them in knots and leave them be for the entire journey?
My point is. Since I don’t know the mechanics of sailing, the message fails to equate effectively for me. I spend the rest of the morning questioning my time in the boat.
I was actually thinking of this the other day. Someone used a farm phrase with me. And while I understood, I realized I hadn’t heard these types of saying until I was an adult and living in rural Preble County.
When we were city kids, the phrases of the farm would do us no good. They are out of context there, too, not making a bit a bit of sense for the city mouse. I believe the quote from the other day was, “Don’t put the cart before the horse.”
Once again, as reasonably intelligent children, we may have made the connection that the horse needs to pull the cart. Or does it? We didn’t live on farms. Could it be that horses were capable of pushing carts? And what could that mean for us? Is pushing a cart less effective? Or is this some other secret farm wisdom around this? Say perhaps, there is manure in the cart, and we wouldn’t want to put your horse behind the thing because of the smell.
Do you see? Too many variables when out of context.
When we were kids, and someone left open the door? Our saying was: “Go shut the door.”
We didn’t say, “Do you live in a barn?” as this would have had no effect whatsoever. We didn’t have a concept of what living in a barn might mean. Are the doors always open? How do they keep their animals home if the doors are always open? Are there times to shut the doors? If not, why even have doors? You see, it all gets convoluted.
To this day, I’m not even entirely sure I understand the “Don’t look a gift horse in the mouth.” I suppose you can tell a horse’s health by looking at its mouth, maybe even its teeth. So if someone just gives us a horse, we shouldn’t worry about its health? How does this apply to anything else in life? If someone gives me a loaf of bread, I shouldn’t look to see if it is moldy before eating it? Or?
I’m baffled by this one.
And finally, “He bought the farm.” I know what it means. He died. But what in heaven’s name does this have to do with the price of tea in China? Lots of people buy farms, alive and well, and healthy and good. In fact, most farmers I know are alive. Buying a farm does not compute with passing to the other side.
So there it is. The context of meaning.
I guess when it comes to these phrases….
“I’ve had the last straw.”
Wait. What??!!?
=========
“It’s strange how a word, a phrase, a sentence, can feel like a blow to the head.”
― Veronica Roth, Allegiant
=======
“Prose consists less and less of words chosen for the sake of their meaning, and more and more of phrases tacked together like the sections of a prefabricated hen-house.”
― George Orwell, Politics and the English Language
=========
“Case closed, game over, zip up your fly.”
― Stephen King, Black House
==========
Sailing. Of leaving the barn door just where it is.
