Standing in the ocean with my daddy a big wave knocked me down.  I was 5 at the time and I had not been paying attention.  Daddy had always warned me to stand where I could still see the sand so the water was not deep.  As I stumbled to my feet blowing and spitting out the salt water from my mouth, I was annoyed that I had been caught off guard.  I thought I had been paying attention. I was not prepared.

Fast forward to now.  I am in the midst of some kind of transformational pit hole.  Months ago while swimming in a feisty warm ocean, a thought came to me to float with the waves. The sea was rough and  fighting the waves  was making me feel tired and annoyed.  The same was happening in my work and my life.  All was feeling foreign and there was a feeling of being mired in the muck.  I was meeting resistance and rejection at every turn.  That day in the ocean  I opened my arms I allowed the water to carry me.  Not very far from shore, I let the waves wash around me and enjoyed the feeling of limitless floating.  I became big and felt as if I were a part of the vastness of the ocean and no worries could assault my tired mind. I turned it all over to something larger than myself. As the salty waves washed around my neck, I was reminded that life’s journey is full of waves, some smooth and easy and some turbulent and rough. Navigating the waves and looking out for the big ones can also help us to navigate our lives.  So many of us have come to accept that fighting and resistance is a part of life; a kind of test to show how tough we are.  We fail to understand the futility of a resistance that leaves us tired and haggard.  How well we can relax in the vastness and go with the flow can keep us afloat.  Waves will come and some will hit us when we least expect it no matter how ready we think we are.