Reflections: Changing Tides
July 23, 2014
I’ve always been partial to the low tide at the beach, for when the ocean recedes for a few hours twice daily for the low tide exposes an expansive beach that becomes a playground of earthly and aquatic delights. The landscape changes, tidal pools form, and a treasure trove of shells, stones, beach glass worn smooth, drift wood, sea weed and other offerings from the ocean appear on the sand, waiting patiently to be claimed once again by the sea, or to be pocketed by a beachcomber who will revere that object with special memories for a long time to come.
Our lives change like the tides of the oceans, we have high’s and low’s that course into our lives, sometimes with great force and other times in very subtle ways, that go almost unnoticed until the lowest point is reached and we are drawn back like the ocean, as we flounder and languish in wait for the sea to change.
Life’s low tide brings with it a different sort of treasure trove, one of self-reflection and examination usually directed toward challenges that have been strewn across our landscape. Much as the sea exposes the gifts of life, our personal low tide exposes opportunities to perhaps change our lives. For it is through challenges and difficult times that we grow and become stronger and wiser, capable of sweeping in with the high tide, riding the waves of change to a higher spectrum.
Like walking our life path, traveling along through valleys and peaks, the changing tides teach us to go with the flow. We can resist the change that the tides bring us, or we can embrace it as an opportunity to learn and grow.
