Life's storms

We're at the ocean this week. The first thing I did when we walked into our condo was open the sliding glass door facing the ocean. I love the sound of the ocean. The roar, the crash, the rhythm. It's relaxing and exhilarating all at the same time.

This morning I sat mesmerized watching the waves form and race for shore, and I noticed that the most interesting and beautiful waves that formed off shore, the ones that captured my attention, came to shore with only a fraction of the power they had displayed and the destruction they had promised. By the time they hit the shore line, their power had spread out and covered a wider part of the shore.

That made me start thinking about the storms we weather in life. Sometimes the waves we see descending on us with their loud roar and high forming waves immobilize us. We get caught up in the destruction we see headed our way, and forget that waves that form that far from shore hit with less power.

There are other times when we don't see the other waves that are forming beside the one that's got our entire attention, until it crashes into the first wave and neutralizes its power.

Sometimes, a wave will form very close to shore and hit with unexpected force. But we have to realize that with the unending rhythm and motion of the ocean of our life, the pain and the destruction is only temporary. The following waves will wash away the debris, and time will cause a softening to the hard edges left behind.

The constant motion of the water is soothing, and it's cleansing. Enjoy the sound of the ocean in your life.