Every Choice Casts a Vote
By Captain Michael (@captmichael) ·
Every Choice Casts a Vote
By Captain Michael (@captmichael) ·
Every Choice Casts a Vote
Most of us imagine our lives are shaped by a handful of major decisions.
The career we pursue.
The city we move to.
The person we marry.
The business we build.
The boat we buy.
Those decisions matter, of course. They can alter the direction of a life in dramatic ways.
But the older I get, the less convinced I am that a life is built by its biggest decisions.
More often, it is built by its smallest ones.
A life well-lived is rarely the result of a single grand act. It is usually the result of thousands of ordinary choices made when nobody is watching.
Every choice casts a vote.
A vote for the kind of human being we are becoming.
Years spent at sea taught me a simple truth.
A ship rarely changes course because the wheel is spun wildly from one side to the other.
Most course corrections are surprisingly small.
A degree here.
A degree there.
Yet given enough distance, those small adjustments lead to entirely different destinations.
Life works much the same way.
A book read instead of another hour spent scrolling.
A walk taken instead of another excuse made.
A difficult conversation held instead of avoided.
A promise kept.
A skill practiced.
A kindness offered.
None of these seem particularly important in the moment.
Yet over time they become the architecture of a life.
One of the most expensive choices we make is often the one we never admit we made.
The choice to wait.
To postpone.
To avoid.
To delay action until conditions improve.
We've all done it.
We tell ourselves we're gathering information.
Waiting for clarity.
Waiting for confidence.
Waiting for the perfect moment.
But life continues moving while we wait.
The tide doesn't stop.
The calendar doesn't pause.
And a day spent avoiding a choice is, itself, a choice.
Ships without a destination still travel.
They just don't travel where they intended.
Modern life presents a unique challenge.
Everything arrives disguised as important.
Notifications.
Breaking news.
Arguments.
Opinions.
Endless opportunities to be distracted.
If we aren't careful, we spend our days responding to whatever shouts the loudest.
But the things that matter most are often quiet.
Family.
Friendship.
Character.
Craftsmanship.
Health.
Faith.
Purpose.
The challenge is rarely choosing between good and bad.
More often, it is choosing between what matters and what merely demands attention.
Every yes carries a hidden no.
Every commitment requires the sacrifice of something else.
That is why choosing what matters may be one of the most important choices we ever make.
At sea, a captain can learn a great deal by looking at the wake.
The wake reveals the course that was actually sailed.
Not the course intended.
Not the course discussed.
The course traveled.
Life leaves a wake as well.
Years from now, our lives will not be measured by our intentions.
They will be measured by the choices we repeated.
The habits we practiced.
The promises we kept.
The responsibilities we accepted.
The character we built.
And the beautiful thing is that no matter where we are today, the next vote is still available.
The next small correction can still be made.
The next choice still belongs to us.
That is both the burden and the gift of being human.
Every choice casts a vote.
Choose carefully.
Fair winds, my friends.
— Captain Michael
Retired US Navy Special Operations Officer specializing in diving, salvage and exlosive ordnance disposal. Now living and sailing the Caribbean on our 46ft monohull sailboat.