Thursday, April 5, 2012

With Each Wave

He stands
His feet in the water
Anticipating their arrival
Braced for the unknown
Excited by it

With each wave
He contemplates
He measures

Some he jumps
Avoiding their upheavals
Their consequences

Some overtake him
Knocking him off his feet
Stealing his air
But then he gets back up
Drenched and sputtering
And with joy he awaits the next wave

Most move past him
Around him
Testing his footing
His center
His focus
But not breaking him

Sometimes in the quiet
The peace between the waves
He gazes around him
And he finds treasures
Taking advantage of his circumstances
Knowing that
With the next wave
The ground beneath his feet
His reality
Will forever change

With each wave
He has a choice
To let it take him
Overwhelm him
Steal his air
Leave him sputtering
And in fear of the next one to come

Or

To brace himself
To joyfully detach himself from the outcome
And take whatever comes
With gratitude and wonderment
To treasure the ebb
And the flow
To cherish each breath
To observe and learn
Instead of being focused on that moment
To see each wave as a chance
To better understand the ocean of reality
The essence of existence
To view each wave as a gift
A gift of knowledge and insight

This choice is all of ours
With each test do we choose to live
In the falling
In the failure
Or do we find beauty and meaning
In the standing up
In the learning

The waves of life will never stop coming
Their ebb and flow is the heart beat of existence
But it is our gift, our treasure, our decision
With what attitude we choose to greet them