Life gets heavy y'all. It just does. The more trips around the sun you have the more chances there are of life throwing you a curve ball, or quite honestly knocking the breath right out of you. Often it builds slowly, like the slow and growing circulation of a hurricane. Things seem manageable as you make your way through your daily life, dealing with this and that, and slowing things start to pile up. You feel stretched, and tired. The accumulation of issues make your wonder how your mental and emotional health will withstand the ongoing onslaught of life as it sends wave after wave crashing over you. Sometimes its just little persistent things that slowly rise like a never ending Tsunami, and other times it feels like a CAT 4 hurricane. The winds whip and the lightening flashes and the rain seem to fall with no end in sight threatening to wash you away.
The last few years have felt a lot like that. A slow, building up of stress with health, both physical and mental of not just myself, but several members of my family as well. And while i know I can not fix most of it, i find it weighing heavy sometimes. This past week just seemed to be a lot and thankfully my husband and I were able to get away to the coast for a couple of days.
I love the beach. I always have. My Paw Paw always took my sister and I to the beach for a week every summer, and we also usually went for a week as a family as well. Salt water runs in my veins, and there is nowhere else in the world that helps calm and center my soul. Whether it is overcast and grey, or blue skies and bright sun, there is no place i would rather be most days. This past weekend the two days we were there could not have been more different.
Sunday was overcast, with a strong wind, and a rain shower that rolled in as evening fell. It kind of mimicked how I was feeling. Pressed down, and buffeted from all sides. But just as the sun was setting the rain slowed and the clouds broke just enough to allow for a beautiful sunset. And I could not help but think, that is was the rain and clouds that made the end of day of the so beautiful.
Monday was a completely different story. Not cloud in the vast Carolina blue sky. The sun and gentle breeze made the air the perfect temperature for a long lazy walk along the waters edge. The water was cool but not freezing even though it is November. The pelicans and seagulls fished for their dinner and a pod of dolphins made their way down the edge of the water, just past the breakers. The sun danced along the puddles that had formed as the tide went out, and beautiful patterns were left in the sand as the water had receded.
The sunset today was not as vibrant, and since we were driving i didn't get a photo. Instead of the muted and smudged colors of the night before, Blue, lavender, yellow and orange were in perfect layers across the horizon. It wasn't lost on me that though the two sunsets were vastly different, both were beautiful and perfect in their own way. And their differences came from the weather conditions while they were happening. I am sure there is a spiritual application in there somewhere. But its a little muddled in my mind at this hour, after being on the road today. I think though, i need to remember that life, even when it is hard is still a beautiful gift. Even when it seems as the storms will just never pass, we can look for beauty in small moments when the rain lets up, and even when it doesn't. And come to really appreciate the days when things settle down and life gets quiet. Even if it is for small moment, before the next front comes through, or we realize it was just the eye of the hurricane.
Life is heavy y'all, but totally worth the living. Both the good days and the bad.
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