Here is a quote from a man named Wayland (I suppose the person is a man, my having only the last name) . . .
"There are two types of people - anchors and motors. You want to loose the anchors and get with the motors because the motors are going somewhere and they’re having fun. The anchors will just drag you down."
This quote is either good or ridiculous depending on the assumptions you bring to it.
Wayland here seems to think anchors are bad; they are preventing you from making progress toward a goal you want to achieve. But I think of anchors as safety devices. Anchors keep your boat from drifting to places you don’t want to go, like going aground.
Wayland seems to think motors are good; they are powering you toward a positive goal. But motors do not always take you to the right places. There are some motors I do not want in my life. I do not want the motors of hateful, negative thinking. I do not want motors that drive me to buy things I do not need.
Yes an anchor can be a hindrance if you throw it overboard at the wrong time or place, but why would you? If you needed to leave your boat offshore in a river, or in a cove near the seashore, would it be OK with you for it to drift with the current or tide? If you habitually sailed near the brink of Niagara Falls would you choose the boat without an anchor?
Yes a motor provides the impetus, the power, to get somewhere; but where is the “somewhere” and how do you need to arrive there? If you need to go forward is it OK for you to use a motor that runs only in reverse? What about a motor that only goes forward and never runs in reverse? I do not paddle my Ford Explorer to the store with a canoe paddle. Neither could I use 200 horsepower V-6 in my canoe. Different motors are for different purposes. The world could have done without the motors that drove Nazi Germany, but we needed the motors that eventually won the war.
People are not only anchors, and they are not only motors; they can be both anchors and motors. It’s up to you to choose where and when to use an anchor just as it’s up to you to choose what type of motor you need for your situation. Choose the right motor; choose the right boat; don't forget your anchor.
