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Are you skippering your ship that is you and your family, or are you heading for the rocks?
Britain is an island, so the English language is saturated with naval phrases, although Scuppering or Skippering is one that I just thought of.
Obviously, it could be applied to many things… your life, your relationships, your business… et cetera.
Some people seem to have a kind of death-wish, or at least always seem to be on one path or other to self-destruction.
In My Youth
Forty or fifty years ago, I was less choosy about my acquaintances and many of them exhibited this behaviour. Some would go from one disastrous relationship to the next. To make it worse, between partners, they would sit at the bar wallowing in self-pity until the next prospect came along. Invariably, the cycle would begin all over again.
Others couldn’t handle money. They usually drank to much with it or bought clothes, holidays or cars that they couldn’t afford. Sooner or later, the rent wasn’t paid one time too often, and they would be evicted onto a friend’s sofa. This led to sleepless nights, often due to partying, and then the job was gone too.
I used to feel sorry for the people I knew like this who always seemed to be in poor relationships, but you have to draw the line somewhere. Sooner or later, you see a pattern that most people never get into, and yet others break out of.
Addiction
On an even darker note, I knew many people who just didn’t know when to stop. Everything that they did was to excess. They didn’t just drink too much, they became boring drunks, and then alcoholics. Or they moved on from smoking a joint at the weekend to overdosing on heroin. This last group was nowhere near as large as the anti-weed brigade would have you believe, but they were definitely out there.
People who are scuppering not skippering their lives.
People with an addictive personality. Lost souls, if you like. People who just can’t get it right… they don’t seem to know how.
There but for the grace of God, eh?