Ship Wreck

During the last week, I've been following the news of the cruise ship wreck near Italy. The captain had delegated the day to day running of the ship to others. The ship was off course and he didn't even notice. He was too busy wining and dining his girlfriend. Even after the crash, he continued his negligence. He ordered a sharp U-turn which caused the ship to tip over. The captain then abandoned ship in one of the life-boats. The coast guard had to order him back on the ship to give them a full inventory of the passengers. The captain is still making excuses for his behavior instead of taking responsibility. At last count, 13 bodies have been recovered and 20 people are still missing.

There are lessons to be learned in this tragedy. The patterns of our lives might be charted ahead of time. Our day to day routine may not vary significantly. We grow apathetic, complacent about our duties. We get distracted by more engaging roles. Our ship veers off course. By the time we notice, we've already crashed. We try to make abrupt changes. We hurt ourselves and others. We make excuses instead of owning up to our mistakes and their consequences.

We must not live on autopilot. We must take our roles as spouses, parents, teachers, caregivers, etc. seriously. We shouldn't delegate these responsibilities to surrogates just because we've found other, more interesting pursuits.