3 Million Shipwrecks
Did you know it’s believed that there are over 3 million shipwrecks at the bottom of the sea? Most of us can name one, but there are millions of sunken boats on the ocean floor.
Of those 3 million, fewer than 1 percent have been recovered.
Boats embody the spirit of exploration and adventure. They carry human beings across distances that are difficult to cross. A ship carries the aspirations of its enterprising builders.
Ships are like dreams; some of them sail, some of them sink.
Some dreams sink because they were ill-prepared, ill-designed, and, in some cases, overwhelmed by forces outside their control. Those dreams could look like businesses, charity or volunteer organizations, an invention, a career in the arts, a travel bucket-list, community-building endeavors, or even the dream of a family.
When I read the number 3 million in an article about shipwrecks, I found it oddly encouraging. Like…Holy cow, shipwrecks can happen to the smartest, strongest, and well-financed in the world. Some of these ships employed the best technology and had the best-trained crews available in their day. Instinctively, I lean towards believing that those qualities of strength have the power to prevent tragedy. Those advantages help, but they don’t make one tragedy-proof.
The successful still sink. The proof of this lies on the seafloor.
The only ones who don’t experience a sinking boat are the ones who never risk leaving the shore. Most people can live with a healthy amount of the unknown, but there’s an unbearable amount of mystery left to someone who had the imagination to produce a dream but never fully explored its possibilities. I, for one, am not comfortable having that mysterious weight hanging over me.
A shipwreck isn’t always personal, even though it will always feel that way. God is not out to get you. The universe is not out to get you. Over the course of human history, nearly 27 million vessels were retired or decommissioned at the end of their lifespans. The stronger truth here is that we succeed more than we fail.
If the successful still sink, the simple still succeed.
People survive shipwrecks and live to try again. If you’ve experienced the loss of a dream, you can get up and try again. It would be mathematically tragic if you didn’t try again. You are at least stronger, smarter, and better-looking than many of those who boarded the 27 million success stories, and this time you’re sailing with more wisdom in hand.
About a year ago, I was attending a conference, and I connected very briefly with one of the speakers. I mentioned to him that I appreciated a book he had written that quite specifically dealt with the pain of having a dream crash. I recounted one of my crashes to him, not in a whining, self-pitying way, but more as a factual reporting of the story. With great compassion, he said to me, “Hey man, God’s not done with you yet. You’ve got more to give.”
I don’t know who this is for. It’s very possible that perhaps this was just for me. In any case, the message is this: there are many unexplored possibilities for our lives that are worth the risk. The writer of your story is hoping you’ll choose to do more.
Take care
Notes: The idea of shipwrecks came to me while reading my kids' National Geographic magazine from the article on sunken ships in the July 2026 edition.