I woke up at dark o’thirty
My mind was racing after a vivid dream
Which was rapidly fading from my memory
It must have been a bad dream
Because my mind forbid me to go back to sleep
Lest I revisit the same dream
I dragged my reluctant body out of bed
Made a cup of tea and stepped outside
The morning air felt fresh and cool
Hardly a sound emerging from the blackness
The birds were all sleeping
Hot tea woke up my body
There was no going back to bed now
Sunrise was more than an hour away
This was to be my solitude time
A period of self reflection and a quick debate
What should I do with this gifted hour
I rejected the temptation to go on line
The virtual world would survive another hour without me
Likewise the TV news was shunned
I decided to set myself some goals for the day
Prioritize what must get done by when
It was easy to shake hands in that deal
The next goals were harder to agree on
Things I wished to achieve over the coming months and years
The longer the timeframe the harder it was to commit
Plenty of excuses were lining up for not achieving them
I waited for them all to say their piece
Then I gave them a stiff lecture on their bad attitude
They mostly slunk away in dejection
Apart from one persistent excuse who refused to leave
He had a smug look on his face
His point was blunt and brutal
How do you know you will be well enough or even alive to finish those long term goals?
I looked him straight in the eye and told him
I am the captain of this ship and if she goes down
Then you go down with her too
I thanked him for strengthening my resolve and dismissed him
He walked away and turned to me with a smile
Good luck captain he said
I called down to the engine room with the command
Full steam ahead!