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A Wave at a Time

How I’ve Learned to Deal With Life’s Struggles Simply by Listening to the Sea

By Kylie HartwigPublished 6 years ago 4 min read
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Have you ever stared out into the sea for what seems like hours, yet the only thing that we focus on is how big it really is. I mean, really big, never ending. We stand there flabbergasted at the fact that this massive body of water, containing millions of life forms underneath the surface where nobody can even see, just goes on forever. We try so hard to see farther than our eyes are letting us, why can’t our minds do the same? We can sit for hours and think about the endless dreams and goals we want to achieve, but the truth is, it ends with us.

When we can’t see any farther, that’s the point where it ends. It doesn’t disappoint us, it won’t make us doubt the ocean. It definitely won’t make us question if our eyes are good enough. So why do we beat ourselves up when we can’t see our vision coming closer? Just because we can’t see it from where we are at now, doesn’t meant it doesn’t exist. Then it hits us, the problems that we face in life, our so microscopic compared to this monstrosity.

Life is like the waves: You start going forward, then you get pulled back, then you get pushed forward again. But if you carefully watch the waves, some waves get pushed together, making them go farther. Life is always going to give us a boost and make us go further, but something will always pull us back in. However, when we least expect it, something extra in our life stands with us and pushes us forward. Whatever motivates you; your partner, career, school, or lifelong goals, work with this force. If you don’t sync with each other, the weight will be too much and you will slowly sink back in. The sea tells us more about ourselves than we ever could. It speaks to us. It teaches us patience, understanding, and respect for time.

I want you to think about this; what is the one thing that holds us back from the waves pulling back out to sea? It's so simple, so small we don't pay attention to it. Sand. Sand takes millions of years to go from nothing to anything. It doesn't try to be sand, it's just... SAND. Think of sand as our comfort zones. We don't spend years trying to form a certain comfort zone, it adapts to us over time through our day to day lives. Comfort zones aren't always a bad thing though, they make us stop and think about right or wrong choices in life. However, what can happen if we think TOO much? Overthinking comes into play and we start getting anxious and lose confidence in ourselves. Just like standing in the sand, if too much sand is forming, we will start to sink down. When we sink, we can't allow ourselves to venture out into the water and swim. Of course it's scary to just start walking off into the unknown and hoping things will be okay. We don't know what could be lurking right under our noses, anything could surprise us. We can't predict how the waves will be, will they be just enough for me to handle or will they be too big and overpower me? Maybe we aren't meant to have all the answers. We can't expect to go forward if we've only gone a few feet ahead in our entire life. We won't discover new adventures, we won't trust ourselves to make the right choices, and we won't be able to pass on our wisdom to those around us. If we stay in the sand too long, we won't know how far we can go out.

It seems silly to compare life's problems to just water and sand, I know. But, who said life isn't suppose to be as simple as just that? Everything around us goes through life doing what they naturally know how to do. If we all did that, I believe people would take more risks and explore new possibilities within themselves. Waves will never stop, there will always be someone or something there pulling you back when you were just going forward and we can't prevent that. We could just stay in the sand, but how could we learn to swim deeper and learn to live with the risks of the unknown? It takes just one grain of sand to start creating the mountain. It will take many more grains coming together, and some will get washed back in. Don't let a few grains gone defeat you. Allow life to pull you back unexpectedly, allow it to put you in places you never thought you'd end up, and most importantly, let your grains of sand fall into place. Keep working hard and never give up. Your mountain will come.

self help
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About the Creator

Kylie Hartwig

Writing pieces to soothe the soul :)

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