MEMORIAL DAY OF REFLECTION

As a holiday approaches, we make plans to spend three days with no “work” schedule. If we are traveling some place, we scurry around and get things in order in our home before we leave. Interesting how all of sudden we finish those little things that seem important to get done before we walk out the door.

In my case, those nagging little things were done before I left to make the 2.5 hour drive to one of my favorite retreats, Ocean Parks, Washington and the Surfside Inn. I have been going to this place for the last 18 years and do much of writing there.

The drive takes me along the Columbia River, over the mountains and then to the wonderful area known as Wilipa Bay – famous for its’ outstanding oysters. Yes, I have learned to like oysters. I steam them in the shells with fresh rosemary.

Yet, the place that truly clears my mind is when I walk to the beach. I can see the beach out my condo window. However, it takes the quiet walk to the ocean before my senses truly open so I can hear and see.

Yesterday, the sun shone brightly. Few people were on the 22-mile long beach because people had to head home to report to work this morning.

The waves caught my attention. They were all different sizes. Some gentle and slow moving, some of them swiftly came in and still others noisily crashed on the beach and moved things that had been deposited by previous waves.

All of a sudden, the saying “the wave of emotions”, took on a new meaning. I have heard it often, yet, now I was watching this concept being revealed before my eyes. Like ocean waves, some of the waves of emotions are gentle and have little effect on our lives. Other waves make us take notice and still others come crashing into our lives when we least expect it.

When the waves came in at the ocean, I could choose to run away from them or I could stand my ground and wait for the wave to arrive and then move back out of my life/environment. It was my decision to decide if I wanted to run from the experience—just like the decisions we need to make when emotions entered into our daily lives.

Memorial Day reminds us how important it is to recognize and appreciate the people that helped keep our country free. This weekend, I also was given the gift to remember the “wave of emotions”. Like the soldiers that helped protect our country, the waves of emotion come in all different sizes. It is up to me to decide how I will work with them. This week will I run away from emotions or will I stand strong and work my way through them?

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