High Tide

A dear friend and I drove the coast today looking for a place to walk but found none. No solid ground to stand on. And even though the sunlight sparkled in the familiar diamond’s way, I did long for another kind of solace.

I wanted to walk the beach; the slow, steady kind of stroll that quiets you and fills an hour with crashing waves and swooping seagulls. I had to readjust my expectations and let myself see what was in front of me. It is so hard to shift from what we want to what we find: in the moment, in the day, in the world, in the person standing before us, even within ourselves.

I wanted an afternoon to walk with my thoughts, instead I stood, resting like a turtle warming itself on a rock. Not what I anticipated, but the stillness proved essential to my leisure.

What do you do when it is “high-tide”?

When you do not get what you want, but more of what you need?

You meet with unmet expectations, and you must shift?

Notice the thoughts that swirl in your mind and listen carefully. Once you can hear them, you can re-write the narrative.

“I can’t go for a walk on the beach…I drove all this way…I can’t believe it…” are thoughts driven by dashed hopes and a little bit of bitter disappointment… but these can shift. I listened carefully, and then decided those thoughts needed to be rejected and replaced; they became, “I get to bask in warm almost-Spring sunshine and rest.”

What thoughts do you need to reject and replace? Here is a quote from my book, Rejecting Fear:

“What if managing our thoughts is the way to gain our ground

in whatever area we are working on?”

Chapter 1