November 11, 2010
Whitefish Bay, WI
35 years ago, this morning, the news was coming over the radio that the night before the ship called the Edmund Fitzgerald sank, taking all 29 crewmen with her.
It had departed from Superior, Wisconsin and got caught in a violent storm. She sank in Lake Superior, just 17 miles from the safety of Whitefish Bay, Michigan.
A few months later Gordon Lightfoot wrote a song in commemorating the sinking.
“…When supper time came the old cook came on deck
Saying fellows it’s too rough to feed ya
At 7PM a main hatchway caved in
He said fellas it’s been good to know ya.
“The Captain wired in he had water coming in
And the good ship and crew was in peril
And later that night when his lights went out of sight
Came the wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald.” (Gordon Lightfoot)
It is a fine song that gives tribute to the death of 29 men: sons, husbands and fathers. Kind of a sad song, really, and a little ghostly.
But living here in the Midwest around these Great Lakes, I think there is a positive meaning we can take from this anniversary.
Sailors are tough people. The saying once was: “Men of iron, ships of wood.” They are courageous and self reliant. They risk the security of the land and take their lives in their own hands on a floating platform that moves over an unpredictable surface which can kill them at any time. They only have themselves to count on whether they arrive at their destination or even stay alive. They confront the elements face to face and there is no tolerance for excuses or mistakes. The result of negligence is not an angry boss but the cold rocky grave of the water below.
While many stay sheltered in their shops along a harbor, sailors seek opportunities and set sail. They have goals and rely on their skill and initiative to arrive at their destinations.
Sometimes they may configure the ship incorrectly, plot a bad course, or out of nowhere, get hit by rogue waves. And they may die. But at least they died seeking their goals.
This is a lesson of the Edmund Fitzgerald, at least for me. Those 29 men knew the risks they were taking but were braving the storms and the security of the harbor to arrive at distant ports.
This week I visited a veteran doctor at his office whose numbers over the last few years have been crashing. He had recently gone through a bankruptcy and was now moping around his office feeling depressed and complaining about insurance cut backs, joblessness, and other woes.
We all have been in comparable situations of one type or another before. Maybe we made a wrong turn somewhere and tripped and fell and then held ourselves back out of fear. But the solution is not to restrain ourselves but to get back out and risk it all again.
As entrepreneurs and those of us in the chiropractic profession, I suggest we honor those sailors who have perished on this anniversary, and do so by getting out of whatever harbor we may find ourselves in and set sail.
A New Year is coming. Where are YOU going to sail in this New Year? We suggest that you set some high and distant goals and start plotting your course now.
Consider this quote from Mark Twain:
Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things that you didn’t do than by the ones you did do. So throw off the bowlines. Sail away from the safe harbor. Catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore. Dream. (Mark Twain)
Safe travels and best regards.
Nice video with the song by Gordon Lightfoot: “Edmund Fitzgerald”LINK
