Saturday, March 26, 2022
There’s something special about the beach. It maybe a great vacation place for many, but for me it turns out to be a place for reality check and to center one’s thinking. Ocean is deep and mysterious and we as a specie are yet to figure out the deep secrets it hides.
Beaches are a magical place on Earth. They look different every morning, and, as always, the picture fails to capture that and it looks like a trite. There is spirituality about the water flows, the way the sand settles down in a different manner along the shore, the way the sun peaks over the horizon and the night turns into a day, and later in the day slips away for resting each night.
Try strolling early morning on a beach along the shoreline and listen to the silence. Silence is one of the many vital life lessons ocean teaches us. Even the greatest lessons of life are taught and learned silently. In most cases, if we are not silent, we are not paying attention and ultimately not learning.
“We are tied to the ocean. And when we go back to the sea, whether it is to sail or to watch – we are going back from whence we came.”
~ John F. Kennedy
Stand on the shorline and look at the sea. Your problems even when stacked together are just a grain of sand against the gigantic sea. It is a humbling fact to remember that your problems are as small as a grain of sand compared to the ocean in another part of the world.
The big and the small waves crashing by the shoreline and depositing silt, people taking a dip into the ocean, some trying to run against the waves, falling, and trying again. While some others like me enjoying the sunset with coconut water and a cool breeze cutting off through my face, not to forget light music. The ocean has something for everyone.
Playing with the waves feels like YOU v/s MOTHER NATUE in it’s truest form. There often comes a time in ones life when the wave’s there, all set, with full agression, you just need to make use of that opportunity and make it to the end with the wave. However, there are times when we feel how the ocean of life is trying to throw us backwards. Sometimes the ocean throws us out. Sometimes, it eats us up, and at other times it doesn’t even take us in. When this happens, we need to keep faith in our mentor – life. It is only shuffling our reality to show us more crucial elements of our lives. It wants us to align our vision with that of life.
“No man can ever step in the same river twice for it’s not the same river and he is not the same man.” ~ Heraclitus
You will have low tides and high tides, and you’ll need both. You can’t win all the time. You can’t get promotions all the time. You can’t have an epic experience every day or you would burn out. You need downtime and boring days just as much as you need good times and terrible times. Loss, disappointment, betrayal and trauma all come with aging. You can’t have good times without the bad and the boring, as these experiences cultivate your appreciation of aging and the shortening years of your life.
Running on soft sand is hard, but it makes you stronger. When the sand is softer, the runner must work harder, run more slowly, and put more into the journey. The upside is that running the “hard race” yields greater results, like more burned calories and a stronger heart, lungs and legs. When you see life’s challenges, or soft sand, in front of you, don’t be afraid of it. Face it head on. Put one foot in front of the other and push your way through, keeping your “eye on the prize,” which is coming out stronger on the other side.
There are two kinds of people you’ll find on the beach early morning. One, who are curious to see the beach without the presence of a human life and are eager to listen to the silence the beach has to offer. Second, the ones who spent the entire night on the beach, vibing and chilling, don’t know if we should ask them to come for a breakfast or breaknofast? You know which category I belong to. Don’t you?
See you next Saturday, until then have a great weekend :)
Cheers!
Some things that you may find interesting-
Article: Choose Enjoyment over Pleasure by Arthur C. Brooks
Book I am reading: Norwegian Wood by Murakami
Song I am listening to: Waqt Ki Baatein by Dream Note
Thought of the week: "What you give away is what you get, what you hoard eventually goes to random people."
Here are the last three posts if you were too occupied to read them: