The Rhythm of the Tides

I had a long talk with myself this morning.

From time to time this is something well all need to do, especially when things are weighing on the mind with no real solution visible. At these times, if you find a quiet place and let yourself go things have a way of settling in place so that they can be seen clearly.

Today I left the curtains drawn, opened the window and while Enigma channeled through my headphones I let my mind take itself where it willed. immediately I found myself surrounded by the sounds and smells of the ocean. This was not a surprise. For the past several days I have found myself drawn to symbols of the sea: shells, sea salt, video clips of waves freezing on the shores or Antarctica.

I drank in the waves, letting my body lift and fall with their rhythms. I asked myself what I saw. All around were nothing but the blue green waves and the clear blue sky. Looking deeper I saw the pattern of the waves crashing on the shore, and the pull of the tides as they followed the moon. From there I saw the movement of the planet through the solar system and the seasons as they come and go, all of them moving in the same in and out, back and forth rhythm of the ocean.

I thought of my own inner tides and seasons, of the things that come and go only to return again. The questions came:

"Can you wall off the tide from coming in?"
"No."
"Can you stop it from receding?"
"No."
"Natural cycles cannot be changed. They are facts and as any facts we must accept them as we find them, not as we wish them to be."
"True."
"So what's left?"
I shrugged. "Put myself in step with the rhythm. Take it as it comes and let it be what it is. No more fighting it. Any of it."
"Can you do that?"
I didn't answer.

I guess we'll see.

A lesson is repeated until it is learned. I'm hoping today's insight will mean I do not need to go through this particular cycle again, but I may. Knowing is not the same as understanding and even understanding is not the same as doing. There may still need to be a "final exam".

And, I'm not the only one who needs to learn this particular lesson.

Ms. Betty