Thoughts

Stephen and I were walking down the beach this morning, quite early for us. The sun hadn’t quite made it over the hill, creating a gloomy feel. Both in bare feet, we edged ourselves away from the pebbly shoreline, toward the waves of the turning tide. We carried ourselves along, both silent with our thoughts. My mind was racing, thinking about what I still had to do for the book launch, thinking about something Michael was making and numerous other things. We reached the stump, the marker we have made for our walks and turned, to trudge our way homewards.

Now the sun had risen that tiny bit more and the small pockets of water that had been so dark, were glistening and dancing under the sun’s rays. Suddenly, I became aware of the beautiful shapes nature had created, just for us. There were wonderful patterns in the sand, diamonds in the creek, and small volcanos made from burrowing seashells. I knew they would soon disappear once the water washed over them. As I looked seaward, the tips of the waves were white, more so than I had ever seen them. It was very special. I suddenly realised I had missed so much on my walk to the stump this morning; I had been preoccupied. I am sure we were the only ones to witness this beauty. Nature’s show was just for us. I had been too busy in my mind, rather than being in that moment. It is a good lesson for all of us, from time to time, to pull ourselves back from whatever is going on in our minds. The worrying and over-thinking can come later. But for now, we do need to appreciate what is around us.

I thought back to a man I once was and one whom I am going to mention at the book launch. Perhaps it was him, prompting me this morning, to actually look around me and stop thinking about what I still had to do. This man was a slave and the only images I had received of him were ones that showed a ball and chain attached to his ankle. I hadn’t had to do any work on his life as he had reached a state of peace and acceptance with his lot. He had found freedom in his heart and mind. He had never had the opportunity to walk amongst the waves as we were doing, nor follow any of his dreams but he had found contentment with his life. I was shown the importance of this. It is not what we have or what we have done with our lives, or what we can or can’t do, it is what resides within our minds and our hearts. It was a timely reminder this morning. Appreciate what is here, right now. There is always something beautiful and something to be grateful for.