Ocean

'You can either see yourself as a wave in the ocean or you can see yourself as the ocean.' 

(Oprah Winfrey)

'The ocean has a life of its own. Its tides, whirlpools, currents and eddies are 
a testament to its conflicting emotions.' 
(Anthony T. Hincks)

Walking the other day and listening to my own heart (as you do) I felt like the ocean. On the surface all is relatively calm, even sometimes sun-kissed, with a myriad little sparkling diamonds and turquoise, luminous depths. The waves are mostly gentle, lapping the shore. There is a pattern to the tides, not exactly the same each day but still reliable, orderly, dependable. Sometimes I hit against rocks, painfully, spray surging up with the impact - and then that too ebbs away. But I am also aware of undercurrents, rip tides, strong and tugging, trying to pull me down. In places they boil into whirlpools. I fight but perhaps the best strategy is to let myself go with it and bob up somewhere else, lifted on to a different shore.  Some day, I suppose, I will drown, claimed by the depths. Maybe by then I won't mind.