Sand Castles

Got a text from my soon-to-be 30-year-old daughter on her first vacation with her family.  She wanted to vacate the Midwest cold to a warmer beach on the Atlantic Ocean. 

All my five-year-old granddaughter talked about was building sand castles.

Yesterday, I received the photo of little Annabeth and her first sand castle. Perhaps not perfect in most people’s eyes, but a masterpiece nonetheless. I can only imagine the pleasure she felt learning how to use her new tiny pail, tiny shovel, and her tiny hands to construct the most magical castle on the beach.

Now comes the hard lesson.  I know that at some point today, she’s going to learn about the law of tides.  She won’t understand why all her hard work was destroyed.  Why?  She will be very disappointed; I’m sure my daughter and her husband will teach her that the laws of nature are in effect and that it’s inevitable that the tide will always come in and sweep the sand castles away.  She will learn that there is nothing we can do to stop it.  Hopefully, she'll learn that all she can do is pick up her pail and her shovel and start building again.

This whole process becomes a metaphor for life.  It starts with sands through the hourglass  . . .
We only have a  brief period of time on this beach, and joy comes in the creative moments of the building of the sand castles.

We are like children building a sand castle. We embellish it with beautiful shells, bits of driftwood, and pieces of colored glass. The castle is ours, off limits to others. We’re willing to attack if others threaten to hurt it. Yet despite all our attachment, we know that the tide will inevitably come in and sweep the sand castle away. The trick is to enjoy it fully but without clinging, and when the time comes, let it dissolve back into the sea.     -- Pema Chodron

The tide comes in.  The beach is a blank canvas.  Go build some sand castles this weekend!

Carpe Diem Life
David Kuhn

CarpeDiem-Life.com