As in many blogs of mine, in this one too my observations and experience will be in the normal font, while my perspectives will be made in bold..

Little did I know when I stepped into the sands of the beach, that I would have a private conversation with myself. Hmmmn!! Looks like I know much little about myself than I think I do.

It was much after dawn but the greyish look gave the feeling that the sun had not made his presence yet. The water and the horizon beyond seemed to be merging and yet not. Much like our life when many things seem to be the same yet not.

Looking from afar, the sky seemed to have no clouds and the water no ripples. That vastness of the sky and the stillness of water gave that feeling of space, space and more space. Space that we could put ourselves in and feel as though we are a speck in it; or space that we are a part of but which gives us the thought that ‘sky is the limit or space is limitless’. 🙂

 

For many of us and personally for me, there is something about being at a water front or a water body that puts the mind to rest. It could be as man made as a fountain that makes that gushing and rustling sound, when the water flows down; or a lake where ripples are created when the breeze blows over it. It could be also as natural as a beach where the waves could be heard and seen, in all their beauty.

That day and this beach just took my breath away and my mind walked with it, thinking all along. The child in me was all out, just set free to explore and learn.

Everything about the beach was beautiful. Was it the sound of water? Was it the way the waves began their rolling? Was it the way they came crashing? Was it the hues that the water held and showed? Could only one reason be responsible for the beauty to be felt or was it all of them in their own proportions? In every situation that we face in life, there seems to be NO ONE thing, that could be held solely responsible.. So many factors contribute to what happens and how they unfold, with each factor coming with its own proportions.

When I stood near the water and looked at the never ending water meeting the horizon, my eyes tried to take in all of it in one gulp. The rolling and the crashing of the waves, broke the gulping from happening :-)). The waves starts its roll much before it reaches the shore. It is indeed interesting to watch the waves from the time it forms and starts its roll, till the time the wave recedes from the shore, to go back to the water.

The formation of the waves begins lowly as a roll and is almost imperceptible to our vision. This roll as it comes closer to the shore, breaks out, causing a sound. The sound of the waves and the way it crashes, makes me think that they are  going to strong ones and I brace myself for it. Nothing happened and the waves receded before they came anywhere near me. I waited for the next few and waited for the next few and waited and waited and waited.. No wave came anywhere close to where I was standing. A sound behind me caught my attention and as I turned around, there was this wave which came with a force and crashed at my legs. The unexpected force of it made me stumble a little. I could not help but smile at being caught unawares, by the wave that stumbled me. Many times, we wait for a situation to happen because we have seen it being triggered. We wait and wait and wait but what we wait for does not happen. Then suddenly one day, when we are least prepared for it, what we wanted to happen happens. Sometimes and during such moments, we may smile if we are still waiting for the situation to happen, as we see some benefit from it. During some other moments, we may have moved on and this situation happening, may not matter to us or it is coming in the way of our movement forward. Remember that thing we always wanted but no matter how much we tried, we did not get it? Then suddenly we got it. We may not be prepared for it but it gave us joy; or it made us feel “Oh my god.. Why now? I have grown past it”

 

If waiting for the wave was one thing, then what happened when the waves crashed and then rolled at my feet was another. This was another beautiful phenomenon, leading to yet another learning that seemed to be a continuation of the previous one.

The first wave just lapped around my feet and receded leaving  its sandy mark, on my feet.

When the second wave touched my feet ( no pun intended) and receded, my feet sank into the sand a bit deeper leaving some more a residue of sand, on my feet.

When the next wave touched my feet, I could literally feel the sand being pulled from beneath my feet. Much more  deeper I went. I looked down and I saw that my feet was covered by the sand.

I was wondering if I should step out before the next wave came and took me down further. The wave heard me I guess. Before I could lift my feet off the sand, a wave did a small crash at my feet. It was nice enough to add sand beneath my feet and made me come up a little. Finally, I could see my feet and that was certainly reassuring!!

As my thoughts were already in what would happen when we waited for a situation to happen, my mind went deeper in thought. There are times when we are caught up in situations and with people, wherein we get sucked into it so much without us being conscious of it. When we realise it and we try to get out of it, the more we get sucked into it. It requires tremendous effort and sometimes serendipity to pull ourselves out from situations or people. And the one thing we could hear from ourselves, is a sigh of relief.

As I looked around, the huge expanse of sand was welcoming me to walk on it and so I began my walk. I walked a feet beyond where the waves would touch the shore. The sand was firm here, though wet. I had walked quite some steps, when I looked back to see my footprints (remember I was like a child set free to explore :-)). There were my footprints and there were others’ footprints also. I decided to take a different path and when I looked back after a few seconds, I saw primarily my footprints alone and quite afar, were that of others. I could not help but think of the journeys we make with others walking beside us; and journeys where we think we are walking alone. Each of these journeys comes with its own charm.. Walking with others beside us is reassuring.. so is walking alone, looking back and drawing strength from the fact that ‘we did it all by ourselves’. 

 

We always say that the first impression is the best impression but many times, the last impression is a lasting one. Just as I was about to leave the beach, I saw these two shells. One was a smaller version of a conch and the other was a sea shell. Each one of them looked beautiful in its own way, from the face of it. The sea shell was small and had a nice look to it. The conch was beautiful in the way it was shaped and the swirls on it was attractive. I turned it around and found that a part of it was broken. I lost interest and threw it down. But something kept drawing me back to it. Unable to resist it, I picked it up.

 

Why am I looking for a perfect conch? What if the conch is broken and not perfectly shaped? It still looks beautiful from one aspect, doesn’t it? 

What is it that makes us look for perfection in whatever we do? Why do we reject things and people which and who is not perfect? What is imperfect also has its use, isn’t it?  If everyone rejects something that is imperfect, who at all will take it up?

None of us is perfect in everything. We are all experts in some areas and amateurs in others. In the areas we are amateurs in, we are not likely to be perfect but do we throw ourselves out because of that? Why, even in aspects where we claim to be experts in, there is more to learn and become better in. So where is perfection at all? Perhaps in the understanding that it is perfect to be imperfect!!

Being with nature gives us many a teaching about our own nature!! A teacher who is always around us and one who we can listen to, provided we reach out..