As I sat after completing my daily prayer and mediation, I gazed out across the gulf (on vacation)  and thought about the analogy between life and the ocean. The tide comes in and goes out on a regular prescribed basis, much as our natural breath that sustains life does……..it is not under our voluntary control. Sometimes, the water is calm so we don’t even notice little ripples here and there. Events in our life happen and the path takes shape with only an occasional ruffling of our feathers by some miniscule events, which overall don’t affect the big scheme of things.  Other times, unexpected events in life are pretty rough patches that come crashing in, much as the sudden squall with vicious waves hurling themselves against the shore. It may be all we can do at these times to ‘hold our own’ so the proverbial ship doesn’t go down with us in it. We survive the high waves, allow the calm to return, and yet the course of the journey may need to change. We might even choose to adjust/realign our PURPOSE.  Growth and change might only come about because of those high waves we figured out how to navigate and by giving ourselves the time needed to calm and realign.

“The ocean stirs the heart, inspires the imagination, and brings eternal JOY to the soul.” ( Robert Wyland )

How are you doing with the ripples, waves and calms of your life ocean?