I am sure everyone has heard the saying “Life is a beach” which is really a derivative of a much negative saying. But somewhere along the line someone took the negativity out of the “life is a bitch” originating statement and turned it into a more positive. I think that is a good thing. My belief is that personal growth based on change is dependent on taking potentially negative situations and turning them into positive learning experiences. Healthy change and personal growth is about moving forward with positivity. The “life is a beach” saying is one of those examples.
I speak to many people regularly about positivity. It is one of the ways I promote change. What saddens me is that so many need to have this explained to them. I often wonder what jaded them in the first place.
Anyway I like the beach analogy in many ways. There is a certain irony in comparing my life to a beach but I do. After all beaches are never very wheelchair friendly but a good beach certainly does look good. But then the world isn’t really designed for wheelchairs so now is not the time to start getting picky. Besides the view nothing can compare to the scent of a faint breeze carrying the freshness of the water and wafting gently across you. Nothing is more calming. Like change calmness often belies the vibrancy and business of what is really going on under the gentle waters.
I do have some favourite beaches I have discovered over my life time. Like a good memory, I revisit them whenever the opportunity arises. In fact I am in the process of moving back to Vancouver Island and will be able to see one of my favourite beach, Rathtrevor. I love checking out the sand and watching the water ripple over the shore, carrying some sand away while often bringing new particles closer to the shoreline. That is how change happens on a beach and I enjoy returning to my favourite beaches to see what has changed. It is the subtle changes I like to look for.
As a promoter of change I liken myself to a grain of sand. As a single grain of sand one will never push much change until you surround yourself with other grains, then you have a beach. And as the saying goes “life is a beach” and that beach can stand up to the water trying to wash it away. If it wasn’t for all of those other grains of sand surrounding you you would simply become a rock cluttered water way. Nothing pretty about that.
In my earlier days, I think it is fair to say, I was more like a grain of sand on a piece of sand paper. Rough, abrasive and not use to the finer aspects of change. I just wore away at things. That also wore away at me until I began to surround myself with other grains of sand who were more refined. I was able to take the idealism of my youth and polish it with the wisdom of my maturity. I became part of the beach.
Now life is like a beach in so many ways. The lapping water does take some of those grains away with each splash. Many of the grains of sand were people on my beach thirty years ago. A number of them have been washed out to sea to find a new beach but new grains have shown up to take their place which is why life, like a beach, is continual change. Every time you revisit it something has changed and you need to be ready for it. It may be subtle but a change has occurred, that is the way of life and nature. You need to open up for it rather than resist it, as long as it is positive.
Don’t try to hold back those grains of sands that are being washed out with the tide. Enjoy those grains that surround you and keep the beach looking good. By opening yourself to the change happening around you you will discover that “life is a beach” which is so much more enjoyable than living your “life is a bitch” philosophy. Are you open for change?
A Poster Child's Perspective 