Wading Into the Ocean

When I was a boy in South Florida (during the late 1950s and early-to-mid 1960s), my family would go out to the beach on occasions (either at Haulover or Hollywood Beach). And one of the great rituals of the trip would be to gradually wade out into the ocean. I'd often carry with me one of those flimsy inner tubes that lifeguards no longer allow (except in swimming pools). And then I'd go out, deeper and deeper. I would spend what seemed like hours out in pretty deep water, riding my inner tube and getting severely sunburned. And occasionally I'd get stinging salt water in my eyes and nose. This I used to do years before I actually learned how to swim (when I was twelve)! But that's another story altogether.

Recently, on a beach trip to much colder waters off Ormond Beach, I noticed that wading out into the ocean and withstanding the incoming waves can serve as an analogy to life. Sometimes you're just standing there and the sea is completely calm. Which is pleasant for a while, but eventually boring. Life, in this way, can also be pleasant without any stress or concerns. But it can quickly turn into monotony if this goes on too long. Sometimes the water, when I enter it, is nice and warm. But sometimes it's ice cold, and I need to just "stick it out" and stay in the water long enough to get used to the temperature. And likewise, with some days, I have quite a bit of trouble just getting out of bed and going, while with others it seems as if I just spring out of bed with purpose and energy. But the most accurate analogy between ocean wading and living is how deep I am willing to go and how well I take on the waves when they hit me. When I am out in the water, I like to look out to the sea and see the waves as they form and approach. Sometimes I'll predict which ones will develop into large waves, and that's fun. But the greatest fun is meeting up with the waves when they hit and "suffering" the consequences. In life, it's important to have challenges ahead of oneself and to gage their degrees of intensity and importance. And then to enthusiastically meet them head-on, regardless of the consequences. It wouldn't make any sense for me to say at the beach, "I don't want to go out into the ocean", and then wade out and stand there with my back to the waves, continually becoming upset each time one of them suddenly crashed into me from behind, knocking me down. But isn't this how some of us live our lives, continually being thrown off and worn out by events enveloping us that we walked into blindly?

The essence of this is that, like taking on the ocean, life can be approached either in a proactive or a passive manner. Having fun and a sense of humor (especially when you get knocked down) is crucial! And when the going gets too tough, step out of the ocean for a few minutes and take a break!