Allowing the Tides to Turn(Because They Will Whether I Want Them to or Not)

As I sit here looking out upon the Pacific, I try gathering up the energy to pull on some jeans so that I can go down to the beach for a walk.

It is best to do it now, because although I tell myself that I will, I most likely will not make it down to the sand if I wait until later.

It is best that I do it now, because when the tide begins to turn, the waves often become erratic and unpredictable.  And although I know that I should never turn my back on the ocean, I sometimes become so absorbed in my searches for sea glass that I end up getting soaked.

There is a rhythm to the waves as they flow in and out, in and out.

It is a rhythm that can hypnotize the soul.

It is a rhythm that can put the mind at ease.

But it is also a rhythm that can change within the blink of an eye.

As I walk along the shoreline, I am often reminded that I do not have to be in control.

That I can sometimes just allow myself to be carried along with the rhythm of the sea.

That when I think that I am in control, some rogue wave will come crashing up onto the sand splashing icy-cold saltwater all over my clothes, leaving me to slosh around in drenched sneakers the rest of my way home.  The saltwater stings my skin.  Another admonition for believing that I might really have some control over the rhythm of the waves.

Or the tides of my life.

I am alone, right now.  My family is scattered about in various locations.  Work, school, out with boyfriends.  My favorite faded-out jeans beckon to me from the edge of the bathtub.

Knowing that the tide will soon turn whether I want it to or not, I will lazily step into my jeans.  I will obey the rhythm as it lures me down to the sea.  And the tide will turn because that is what it does.  Never exactly in the same way or at the same time each day.  Never precisely with the same cadence as the tide before, but turn it will.

And for today, I will relinquish control because tides turn whether I want them to or not...

And I only get soaked when I think that I know exactly what I am doing.


*Welcome lovely SkyWatchers!  I look forward to seeing what you have posted this week.  For those of you who are unfamiliar with SkyWatch, please click on the link to view some wonderful photos from around the world.