For those non-sailors out there, a wake is the waves of water created by the passing of your boat. If your boat cuts through the water really fast or aggressive, the waves can be quite turbulent, rocking other boats violently. However if you drive smooth, steady and calm, your wake is smoother and gentler. While people will feel it, they’re not knocked over by it
To me the visual of the waves created is very symbolic of how each of us go through our daily lives. We can go through and cause waves that will emotionally or spiritually knock people over and push them away. Or, we can go create a gentle wave that will get people’s attention but not knock them over. Every boat creates a wake as it travels through the water, just as every person create a wake as they travel through life.
Let’s take a moment to look at a few kinds of wakes and how they are caused.
Now, wakes are pretty simple to understand, there are two types, gentle and rough. I am not going to go deeper than that for this topic. A gentle wake spreads out from the boat in a smooth manner as the boat travels its course. The waves propel out in a smooth manner and while others will feel the rocking motion, they are not likely to get knocked over. A rough wake on the other hand consists of rough waves moving out quickly and aggressively as the boat roughly cuts through the water due to the speed of the boat and the handling of the engine. Others feel the wake as it rocks them more violently, possibly knocking things over on their boats.
Let’s look at how a wake is caused. A wake is caused with then the boat’s engine cuts through the water. How it cuts through the water can be intentional or accidental. The intentional wake is caused when the boat’s pilot knows what they are doing and controls the engine thus. They may want to move in a slow considerate manner and impacts other boats accordingly. Or, they may want to show off, or may be angry and handle their engine accordingly. Now there can and many times when a wake is caused unintentionally. The driver does not know how to handle their engine or the boat. In this case they may not appreciate how their wakes effect others or how far their wake can travel.
The questions you have to ask yourself are
“Do you understand how you create your wake?”
Understanding that, the next key question is “What kind of wake do you want to create in world?”
And lastly, “What kind of wake are you leaving presently?”
The wake you create is the impact you have on everyone you meet, everyday, everywhere. That impact is created by your personality, your actions, your attitude and your words. All of these are impacted and directed by the attitude of your heart. Just as the engine of a boat drives it through water, your heart is your engine and it drives you through your day.
Hence the the real questions- What is the attitude of your heart? What kind of wake will you create?
As I journey through my own path of reflection, I find it helpful, actually needed, that I talk to and learn from others. I would like to hear your thoughts on this topic. Please feel free or e-mail me your thoughts, mason@masonvandyke.com
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