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Andrew Wilson NLP Summer Intensive 2004

A man bought a small boat with a sail and an engine. He began sailing at weekends. He did not go far, just a little way out of the harbour and around the local coast. He enjoyed the views of the cliffs and beaches, but never went out of sight of land. After a while, he grew tired of the same journeys and eventually he stopped sailing. Then one day a friend asked if he could go out with him in the boat. The man reluctantly agreed; he didn't like the responsibility of sailing with someone else but he didn't want to disappoint his friend. He was surprised to find that sailing was more fun when he shared it with his friend and so he invited other friends to join him. But eventually this also lost its attraction. However he felt obliged to take his friends and he thought that he was doing something useful with his boat and his time.

Then one day when he was sailing alone he accidentally strayed out of sight of land; he was not too concerned because he had become quite proficient at sailing by this time. Just as he was about to set course back to the harbour he saw a sail and some smoke in the far distance. Obviously something was wrong. The other boat was a long way out to sea and he knew he had to get there quickly. He had rarely used the engine on his boat but he realised he had to now. The journey to the other boat was not a smooth one, but he was relieved to find that he had arrived just in time to save its occupant from a perilous situation. On the way back to the harbour, the man decided that he was going to use the sailing skills he had developed to help other people in trouble at sea. He wasn't sure yet how he would do this, but he knew that it was the right decision.