Beach Takeaways

We're back in Fayetteville.  The clothes are unpacked, washed, and back in their drawers.  I've completely rehydrated.  My tan is already fading.  And I've had my first day back at work, which was full and busy.  And yes, I'm still talking about vacation.

It's almost like we never went to Destin, isn't it?  Almost, except I certainly did meet my goal of logging every day of vacation despite the slow internet and a brother who likes to play games online and slow it down further.  And almost, except I came home a little wiser, a little more relaxed, and a little more resolved.

I know I've told a few of you, but I tend to consider the beach my "New Years."  We spend plenty of time relaxing, drinking, playing games, and having a good time.  But it's also a time when I reflect on the past year and what's changed since I last saw the ocean, and then plan for what I want to change the next time I see it.

So now you get the benefit of my reflection.  Some of it's cheesy, some of it's sad, and some of it might not make a lot of sense, but here are my takeaways from this trip:

• Sharks are everywhere.  Sooner or later, you're going to have to deal with them.  Our beautiful condo with its perfect white ceramic animals, thick granite counters, pristine tiled balcony, and updated furniture in perfect condition had something quite interesting.  On the coffee table under a book with pictures of beachside towns was a shark book.  I refused to look at it until the last night we were there out of plain karma, but once everyone was out of the water for the next year, I poured over it.  It was beautiful, it was scary, and it was graphic.  As I looked at pictures of great whites and read about shark attack victims and how much they've overcome, I started to think about the "sharks" I face in my everyday life (away from the water, of course).  Everywhere you look, there are sharks trying to bring you down.  People who want to see you fail - at work, at home, in your friends, in your family.  Situations that seem set up just to knock you down.  Challenges, failures, emotions, illness.  You can try to avoid them as long as you possibly can, but there comes a time when, like I did with the shark book, you have to confront them.  That's something I hope I get better at doing by the next time I'm at the beach - meeting my life's sharks head on and dealing with them rather than swimming away.  Swimming away is futile: You can't out-swim a shark, because sooner or later it will catch up with you.  And then after I confront my sharks, I hope I don't see one the whole week I'm here.  You know, the real ones.

Actual sharks at the Gulfarium plotting on how to bring me down...

• Sometimes a wave barely reaches your toes, and sometimes it smacks you in the face.  Deal with it.  While sitting beachside on a boogie board watching Alli play in the surf, I would occasionally get a gentle lap of water on my toes as it broke on the sand.  And sometimes, the ocean would come roaring in, and I'd get thoroughly splashed and shocked by the cold.  Isn't that so much like life?  Just when it's peaceful and you're enjoying it, not really paying attention, bam!!  And then you end up with sand in your swimsuit and a face full of saltwater.  But as quickly as you were splashed, the next peaceful, pleasant little wave comes up and doesn't even touch you.  As I sat there in that same situation day in and day out, I learned to appreciate the big waves as much as I did the little - because they made me appreciate the little even more.  Sometimes everything is going so well you don't even realize it, and then something happens that makes you appreciate the good times even more.  I need to remember that when I'm stressing over small things like clean baseboards or big things like finances, that things as they are right now aren't so bad.  Because while I'm not looking, one of those big waves might hit me and remind me how wonderful life really was.

Maybe one day I'll ride the waves of life as well as I do a boogie board?

• In all the changes around it and within it, the ocean is constant.  The ocean is an agent of change.  No wave is the same, no grain of sand the same.  Animals come and go.  Rocks and coral are worn down, ships are weathered.  The very foundation of the ocean is change.  However, there is something so incredibly constant about the ocean.  It doesn't matter if it's raining or the sun is beating down.  It doesn't matter if I'm here for vacation or if it's Christmas.  The ocean is there, doing the same thing it's been doing for a thousand years.  I too am a creature of change.  I like new projects, new people, new houses.  I constantly crave new things to capture my attention, and I get pretty upset when I can't find them or they don't happen fast enough.  What I need to remember is that no matter what changes are going on around me that I cannot lose myself.  I have to stay true to the happy, smart-mouthed, energetic, loving person I've always been, and not let the changes (or lack thereof) prevent me from keeping a constant state of happiness and being a constant source of love and light for my family.  

And there you have my key takeaways from Destin 2012.  I hope the next time I'm standing in the surf and staring out there that I have improved on all of these things.  I can't help but hope there are some more major positive changes in my life by then as well - seeking change and improvement is one of the things that makes me whole.  But I do hope I learn these lessons and apply them better to my life in the year that follows vacation.