Catching a wave

The wave crashed to the shore, letting out a thunderous clap. The water would shoot out, rushing to the shoreline and then it would retreat back to the ocean depths, like it was being pulled by a string. From the water’s edges, I studied the waves for the longest time.

I pushed the laughter and chatter from the sunbathers and kids playing on the beach to the back of my mind. I was focused solely on the beat, tempo, and power of the waves crashing to shore, how they headed back out to sea, only to be replaced by new ones.

Spin me round

I’m not much of a philosopher or zen guru, no one will confuse me for Plato or Aristotle, but I couldn’t help but see the lessons in front of me. I noticed that I could learn something from the waves. They seemed to have a rhyme and rhythm all their own.

When they crashed on the shore, I started to cast my worries on the waves heading back out to sea. My worries about my big work project? I spread them out with the undertow. My worry about this or that I imagined floating back like backwash out to the sea.

Life is a wave

In my mind, I imagined my worries being sent away, replaced with huge waves of Hope and Excitement. The big change project that I’m working on, with all kinds of dependencies, was replaced with hope about my son’s junior year of college and prospects of spending some quality time this fall with all three of my kids.

In addition, I cast off worries about home about my kids and health concerns. I kept reminding myself to focus on the water. Strangely though, the water sounded calm in my head. Yes, it felt good to say goodbye to fear and hello to hope.

I write more on a few things I took away from a recent trip to the beach. In my post, A Sign of the Times, on The Heart of the Matter, I write about how the messages and signs I saw in several different beach surf and t-shirt shops gave me some great reminders on how to lead a fruitful, even if it is sometimes crazy, life.

What does the sea tell you?