By Dave Markwell

Sometimes in life we must burn the boats. History has taught us this lesson, sometimes with mixed results. However, I’ve learned that results often use faulty math to quantify their value. Some things are hard to measure or at least measure well. 

With this in mind, I’m burning some boats. I’m eliminating some safe options and back-up plans and sure, but unsatisfying, things. And I’m excited. Remembering what it feels like to be alive feels this way. It’s probably the way we should feel more often, if not all the time. We probably waste a lot of life feeling less than this. And that’s terrible.

And burning some boats might be the only chance we get to achieve a life which feels like our own. When we become anchored to a place or a paycheck or a person which shackles us to the phony idea of value or security, we can get trapped and stuck. Sometimes these traps are attractive and easy to get caught in. Traps usually trick us with the pretty illusions of things that look nice, but might destroy us. 

So, I’m burning some boats – in my mind, my month, and my mood. And it feels liberating and the right kind of unnerving. Along the way, I’m keeping some boats, too. I just returned home from a sweet visit to an old buddy’s place. He grilled fat burgers and toasted the buns. We caught up on our current events and remembered things. Things that time can’t change. And these things are worth keeping and not burning. They may be why we’re here at all and maybe why we burn the boats that aren’t this. The boats we keep tell their own stories. And they’re nice ones. And probably quite important. And when we have them and know them, we probably don’t have to worry too much about the boats ablaze in the harbor. We’re good.

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Dave Markwell is a life-long Des Moines liver and lover. Former owner of Waterland CrossFit and the Waterland Arcade, Dave uses his unique story-telling voice to help small businesses tell a better story, and his love for people to help folks live bigger and better lives. For more info, check out his website: wordsbydave.net