The Shore and the Ocean

"In order to discover new oceans you must have courage to lose sight of the shore."

~Anonymous

These words have been on my mind a lot lately, and so I share them with you in case they can serve as a catalyst for positive change in your own life.

Regardless of the shore you are on or trying to let go of -- whether it be a physical shoreline or a metaphorical one -- sometimes we need to reach out toward the ocean and let go of what has been in order to discover what is ahead. It seems to me that since we are human a lot of us would rather be more like a monkey and swing from one branch to another, rather than be in a boat and hoist anchor, looking to and moving toward the horizon beyond which we cannot see.

San Luis Obispo has been the comfortable, blessed shore and harbor home for David and I for most of our married life. Outside of the short months between getting married and moving to the SLO area for school, and the past couple of weeks, it has been our haven...our home. While we will forever cherish our home there -- and especially friends and loved ones we met there (many have also moved away) -- the ocean beckons us to a shore we have not yet found.

These thoughts bring to mind a story I heard in which a young boy really understands what 'home' means...

Some years ago a fire erupted in the middle of the night and completely destroyed a family’s home. A neighbor came by to console a seven-year-old, not knowing that he was about to be taught a great principle. “Johnny, it’s sure too bad your home burned down.” Johnny thought a moment and then said, “Oh, that’s where you’re mistaken, Mr. Brown. That was not our home; that was just our house. We still have our home, we just don’t have any place to put it right now.

...That last statement truly typifies how I feel right now. While we are immensely blessed to live where we are right now, and we love being here so much to boot, the ocean still beckons. So, I am counting our blessings daily and pray for the strength to be able to head out into the ocean once more when it is time to leave this safe and comfortable harbor.

May you have peace in your heart if your current shore is best, courage to leave a shore behind you to make a positive change in your life and definitely the wisdom to distinguish between the shores!

With love.