Using Captain Jack Sparrow’s Compass:  12 July 2013

Jack Sparrow:                        True enough, this compass does not point north.

Elizabeth Swann:      . . .where does it point?

Jack Sparrow:                        It points to the thing you want most in this world.

It’s taken me almost 43 years on this planet to identify my internal compass and begin to navigate like Captain Jack Sparrow.

In The Curse of the Black Pearl, Tia Dalma, a voodoo mystic, barters with Jack.  In the deal, he receives a compass that appears broken.  It’s not.

While the compass does not point north, it points to something more valuable.  This navigational tool guides the person holding to what she wants most.

For years, instead of following a compass like this that would lead me to my heart’s desire, I’ve second-guessed and made choices that I thought would earn the approval of others.

No more.

Before I do anything, even if it is as simple as responding to an email, I will ask myself, “Will this make me happy?  Does it bring me joy?”

If not, forget it.

Not doing it.

No more engaging with anything that doesn’t bring me joy.  And, God forbid I engage with something that makes me uncomfortable or unhappy.

From now on, I’ll be like Jack.  I’ll use my internal compass and drink a lot of rum.