Rip Tide of Life

Art credit: http://www.mysafetysign.com/

Sometimes life can be like a rip tide whirling and pulling you swiftly away from the safety of the shore. 

Lessons for surviving a rip tide aren't unlike lessons for surviving crisis in your life. 

When you get caught up in a rip tide the worst thing you can do is panic. Many times it happens so quick you don't even know that you've been pulled out so far. 

For many people their first instinct is to start swimming toward the shore. The tide is so swift and it makes it impossible and in most cases just pulls your body out further. 

Panic and swimming against a fierce current just wastes your energy. 

The way to swim out of a rip tide is to look toward the shore and swim parallel to it. You might feel the current still pulling you but if you keep paddling gently you will begin to swim out of the current. 

Once your out of the rip tide you can swim back to shore. If you're in the ocean you can even just relax your body and let the waves swoosh you back to shore. 

If you're in the rush of ripe tide of life I wish you peace. It might be your first instinct to panic but try, try, try as hard as you can not to flail about in panic. Find your shore, your center and instead of racing toward it swim along side of it. 

Just as swiftly as life was pulling you into chaos, you can release yourself of trying to push against a current. You'll find yourself floating effortlessly. Finally buoyantly you can float with the natural order of the flow and be gently drifted back to the safety of the shore. 

“The secret of success is to be in harmony with existence, to be always calm to let each wave of life wash us a little farther up the shore.” Cyril Connolly

www.ripcurrents.noaa.gov