(Washington Insider Magazine) – Ah, Summer! The perfect time to get away with your loved ones, on a weekend or a holiday. You have been waiting all winter for this. You have been planning for months since the great thaw we call Spring. You have been planning all week for Friday to come for a joyous time at the beach! Saturday morning comes, you wake to find out the kids have plans with their friends, spouse has no time, even your friends are taking their kids places running around. What was once a minor disappointment or setback, after the pandemic with people being forced to live a new normal, is now much worse. I want to share a personal story when I was left with such emotion and feelings, I felt like giving up on my ideas, I was feeling underappreciated, and I was rapidly feeling sorry for myself.
No, wait! That’s not my story. My story tells of how I got from that place of sadness and despair to a place of enlightenment.
In our fast-paced technologically charged world we can get anything with a few taps on a screen, however our world today is not actually as easy as one might think. People are struggling both financially and emotionally dealing with heavy topics that are often racially charged and emotionally prompting. We all have our daily journeys with goals and struggles and when you’re having a perfectly good week then suddenly you realize things are not going as you might have thought. You feel down or sad and everything hits you at once. That’s how I felt last week.
I decided my needs were as important as everyone else’s needs, so I hit the road with my destination in mind. That’s when the magic happened. A song came on the radio River by Leon Bridges. Now I had never heard that song, but it hit differently. I was on my way with feelings of spirituality.
The next song that came on was one from my past. It reminded me of a love lost. Touch of Grey by the Grateful Dead. As I drove on, I heard JC sunshine band and then, the unthinkable Vacation by the Go-go’s, a song that transported me away to another time in my life, a much darker time when I was then too, trying to escape deep rooted emotions.
I planned to take the time for one thing but now I had a different idea. We have to be flexible in our thinking. This morning, I decided I would take the day especially because when you work very hard you want to have time to enjoy your downtime. It is so important to keep those negative feelings away. There I was thinking that the day was ruined but the minute I changed my thinking, the radio and the songs that were playing were small glimmers that were the greenlights as Matthew McConaughey raves about. I immediately felt one with myself as the songs reminded me of the people and things in my past. Life was good.
I realized I have done the right thing to have a day like this even though I wasn’t sure how things would go. I kept on my way driving the far distance, and then having to drive carefully with two police officers driving near me, touching my heart because of my dad. Even with the traffic delays that I faced and even though it would be a short day I was determined to stay positive.
I got there and to my surprise I found his parking spot right away. The beach was a surfing Beach and I looked forward to seeing the surfers ride the waves. Eventually, I made it to the ocean. When I saw the sign that said dog beach, I was a little disappointed I must admit. I didn’t see any dogs however and proceeded to my usual spot of calm. I saw a seagull flying above the crashing waves, I saw a dolphin in the ocean, the sun was shining down on a family with the two little boys playing with their sand toys. I saw shells in the sand. God gave me such a good morning. I was near these massive stones that created the jetty. Amazed by all the beauty, I noticed the nice contrast between the blue water and the white tips as the waves came into the shoreline.
Let this story remind you to be flexible in your thinking and find joy even when you are down or feeling sorry for yourself!