Tides

When you sit on the beach, just at the edge of sunset, do you ever just start counting the waves? How many come in during a minute, how many come all the way up, how many just splash & disappear, or do you just take them for granted?
Some people compare the tides and waves to the way we go through life. They see life as one great ocean, and we sail or drive our ship of life through these seas, riding out storms- enjoying the calms, even hitting a reef or two along the way. I can understand the metaphors, embrace it to a point in fact. But I think we give ourselves to much credit when we see ourselves as some great ocean liner when in fact we're really no greater than a tug boat, in fact we're more than likely just a small single masted sail boat at times. When you're aboard an ocean liner, you really don't feel the ocean . . . an ocean line is like a big grand hotel at sea. All your needs are anticipated and planned for, your dining- accommodations- entertainment- even your health and safety, are all carefully plotted and planned for long in advance with many variables and allowances. All the responsibility is taken out of your hands, you merely have to exist and go with the flow. What kind of a existence is that where you merely go through the motions and let someone else make your choices and decide the what, when, & where for your life? I couldn't live that way. It might be nice as a temporary diversion, but on a daily basis would be mind numbing.
I see life more as being on a sailboat, charting your own course, weathering your storms, finding your own safe harbors, and avoiding the shoals and reefs as much as possible. When you take control of your life you're not surprised by the way it turns out. You can be surprised by the unknown but it won't swamp your little boat because you know how it will react to your touch on the rudder, the choices and decisions you make as a reaction to what is going on around you. Think of the adventures you can have when you're in control and at the helm of your vessel, where can your dreams take you when you finally realize that there are no limits to the choices you can make. And after time your little vessel can get bigger when you start adding people to your life. Then the fun really begins!

"But what if I get swamped?" you say. "What if I can't read charts or don't know how to navigate? What if I get lost?"
We all get a little lost every now and then. The choice then is what do we do about it? Do we flounder about, wailing about the fates and how they've cast us? Or do we ask for directions or reach out for help? For some reason everyone thinks they're alone in all this. For some reason people think that reaching out or even asking for help is a sign of weakness. Believe me people, asking for help or even admitting your vulnerability is not chum in the water, you're not inviting a visit from JAWS. We all need a little help now and then. And it's not unknown to reach out and ask for help, or to admit that you might not know every thing there is to know. A person who insists they need no one or no one's help is a fool. John Donne wrote:

No man is an island,
Entire of itself,
Every man is a piece of the continent,
A part of the main.
If a clod be washed away by the sea,
Europe is the less.
As well as if a promontory were.
As well as if a manor of thy friend's
Or of thine own were:
Any man's death diminishes me,
Because I am involved in mankind,
And therefore never send to know for whom the bell tolls;
It tolls for thee. 

The basic concept of the poem is that Human Beings do not thrive when isolated from others. We are never at our best when we have cut ourselves off from the rest of the world. We cannot validate beauty, spirituality, knowledge, much less our own humanity when we hold ourselves above or separate from the world around us. We have to dive into the sea of humanity and explore, we need to experience others in order to learn of ourselves. Jump in . . . The water is feelin' fine bruddah!