Episode 211: The Parable of the Cruise Ship

I’m Megan Skidmore. For two and a half years, I have been talking about evolving faith journeys. I started to tire of the heaviness of this focus. 

I had the clear message come through. It is time for Beyond the Shadow of Doubt podcast to evolve into living Beyond the Shadow of Doubt podcast. With the same vulnerability and unapologetic authenticity, I will be focusing on the joy in this journey, the life and the living that comes on the other side of maybe, on the other side of what’s possible. 

I want to talk about claiming spiritual sovereignty and becoming your own captain of your vessel. Let’s celebrate releasing what no longer aligns for you and connecting with your higher power and honor, expanding your energy field to make room for all things new. Every first Friday of the month, I offer a free coaching hour. 

Anyone is welcome to join and you may leave your camera off and change your name if you would like to remain anonymous. This is an opportunity to get introduced to my style of holistic coaching and gain real skills, insight relevant to you and fresh perspective on life circumstances. For those attending, there will be opportunities for a complimentary one-off energy alignment session. 

Register at the link in the show notes. Welcome to Living Beyond the Shadow of Doubt. I have a really special message I want to share with you today. 

Recently I had the privilege of participating in a docuseries that we’ll be publishing on a major streaming platform. We think later this year, 2025, it’s called Writer’s Island and it’s called Writer’s Island because my book medium, coach, mentor, Kira Brinton took 15 authors to this island to write their next books. For some, it was their first, for some like myself, it was my next one. 

My first one is in the final, it’s in the formatting stages, hopeful that it will be published, probably early fall. I wanted to share a message that came to me while I was there on the island. One thing about being in a private island in the British Virgin Islands is that there is no loss or sorry, no shortage of inspiration. 

And I wrote mostly out of doors. The resort had beautiful nooks and spaces where we could go and channel from within the messages that we felt called to write and then eventually share. And midweek, let’s see, I wrote it in my journal. 

Yeah, yeah, this was midweek. It was the 12th of June, so that would have been Wednesday. After lunch, I started to fill this pool towards the water. 

I wasn’t quite sure why. I had already made plans to sit and write. So I followed my instinct.

I followed my intuition and made my way to where I felt pulled to go. Here’s what I wrote. After lunch, I came to sit poolside on the very ledge of the infinity pool. 

The pool there on the property from a certain vantage point, you could look off into infinity and the edge of the pool, you know, extended to the waters of the surrounding waters of the island. I felt a pull to come here. As I looked off into the distance, I see a cruise ship, you know, the kind with multiple levels kind of like a traveling city, basically within the space between the aerial resort and the surrounding islands. 

I count approximately 10 to 12 smaller sailboats. And as I was observing all of this activity that was going on in the bay, I had this thought in our own way. We are all in our own sailboats, trying to navigate life, trying to be ourselves. 

And then the temptation of the cruise ship sails towards you or towards us. So I say, and then the temptation of the cruise ship sails towards you. I’m not talking about the temptation that we associate with sin. 

No, not that kind. And I’m talking about this temptation to leave your special, unique, beautiful sailboat and abandoned it, abandon it for the allure of the cruise ship, the illusion of fitting in the false security of a deck or a room assignment, the creativity drain of constant entertainment and schedules planned in advance and for you. The temptation of leaving the sailboat for the allure of the cruise ship and the perceived protection from the storms, the rough seas and the waves of life as they are more easily absorbed by the size of the cruise ship than they would be by the size of the sailboat. 

It’s this illusion of feeling safe, but it’s also static, planned, expected, known. There’s very little spiritual, emotional, mental, maybe even physical muscle required. Staying on or embracing the journey of the sailboat requires more. 

Paradoxically, I think that’s the right word, it gives back so much more freedom, growth, challenge, no bounds or boundaries, expansion, no knowns. There is possible danger. But with that brings a dynamic experience, an active, not passive experience. 

There’s unexpected and there’s just so much growth through the expenditure of all of the energies, the mental, the emotional, the physical, the spiritual, and as such, you become stronger. We exchange the sailboat for the cruise ship because the FOMO, fear of missing out, fear will be left behind or maybe truly will miss out on something when in fact we are leaving ourselves behind. Exchanging the cruise ship leaves me behind. 

My gifts, opportunities to be challenged, to adventure and journey and follow where my heart leads because I can’t. I’m on the ship that celebrates sameness, perceived unity, because remember, just because you’re all on the same ship doesn’t mean you’ll end up in the same place or land in a spot that is meant for you. And also, you can’t leave the ship because you’re not in charge of when it stops and what ports it anchors at versus the ones that it skips.

For sure, both offer beautiful vistas and new experiences. It’s the depth and the breadth of who you will become on the journey that will be vastly different. It’s choosing the road less traveled again and again and again. 

I don’t want the beaten path or to follow the exact footsteps of those who have come before me, and I don’t think it’s supposed to be that way anyway. I’m happy to learn and take cues and follow my intuition. The cruise ship and the sailboat are both vessels of travel. 

They both offer adventure and they both will go places. They both will create experiences and memories. However, the sailboat allows you to truly happen, your vessel, and even when the winds blow, you can learn to harness them in ways that maybe you hadn’t thought of before, to learn new things, to listen, and ultimately to surrender. 

I’d love to know your thoughts. Where are you right now in your life? Are you on the cruise ship? Are you on a sailboat? I’d love to hear from you. Leave a comment or send me an email at hello at meganskidmorecoaching.com. Thanks for being here until next time. 

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