Member-only story
Do Your Part
It’s a Team Effort
I could see the land
plentiful and full, it called to me
almost like a dream
drifting in and out from my
peripheral view as the waves
rose up and down and up
once more.
The spray on my face from
the ocean’s tumult below
was life-affirming for me-
I was alive. I could do this.
I could reach the land
and finally stand on shore,
on stable ground once more.
Taking the oars within my
determined hands, I paddled
against the strength of waves,
against depression, failures,
everything that held me back…
And yet, I found I made little
progression at all.
The island, alluring as ever,
was still just beyond my grasp.
In frustration I screamed to
the wind, wondered what it was
I was doing wrong,
and then I turned around and
looked behind me to discover
that I was not alone in this boat.
Many others, all holding oars,
we’re right there with me,
only no one else was paddling
except for me.
The moral of the poem? Do your part. It’s as simple as that. Everyone wants to reach that island, but none of us can do it alone.
