Last week, my husband and I traveled to Rosemary Beach, Florida, to a little area called Sunny Side. We celebrated our thirty year wedding anniversary, and enjoyed all things beachy.
In addition, while he golfed, I ventured into art galleries, interior design stores, bookstores and gift boutiques, I enjoyed all the art and was also scouting out a possible home for my abstract art. While that’s still in the works, I did add two new indie bookstores so yay about that!
We were fortunate to stay in a condo right on the beach, a splurge indeed. I am fascinated by the horizon line where the heavens meet the sea, and I can’t get enough sunsets on the water. I am so grateful to have gotten a big dose of both.
Almost every day, we took a barefoot stroll along the shoreline enjoying the sun, the fresh air and an abundance of sea shells. Never in my life have I seen a beach so sprinkled with seashells. There were all sizes, even small conch shells and beautiful pieces of sand dollars.
The sand dollars were broken off into a variety of shapes and several of them had been polished into forms that looked like butterflies (see photo above if you missed it). I love butterflies! They always make me think of new life and promises to come.
While taking our seaside walks, I tried to keep moving forward, but I was constantly derailed by every gorgeous shell I saw, wanting to see it up close and possibly add it to my growing collection. Although the shells were mostly easy to avoid stepping on, there were always stragglers and every now and then I landed too hard on a sharp edge. Ouch!
I quickly learned to walk more softly, as if I was walking on eggs, to see how gingerly I could step in case I accidentally landed awkwardly on a shell. The phrase “stepping lightly” came to life for me, as a powerful metaphor.
When I step lightly through life, with an “easy does it” approach, I can roll with things much better. When I plant myself too firmly around issues, or in relationships, the pressure I am exerting can cause discomfort.
Too often we bump into things and say, Ouch! and blame the thing, when maybe it is the force that we ourselves are exerting that’s actually creating our difficulty. How often do we recognize that it’s our stance that yields the trouble, rather than the object itself?
What if, instead, we stepped lightly, held things lightly, and allowed life to come and go more fluidly? What if we accepted the fact that everything changes and nothing is ours permanently? With that approach, we have so much more freedom. We are not bound to expectations of things being a certain way.
It’s not the changes in life that hurt, as much as the attachments and expectations we create.
Each day is a gift. Each encounter is unique. For today, let’s choose to tread lightly, navigating whatever crosses our path with greater care. Let's recognize when we may need to soften our stance, especially toward the people and things that aren’t ours to change.
