I am at the beach in a place that is nearly abandoned in September, by people that is.
If you are willing to open your eyes just a tiny bit, though, you will find so much life happening. The birds alone provide enough interest and food for thought to keep me entertained for quite awhile.
Just the other day I sat in my beach chair, book in hand, feet in the water that gently lapped the shore. It’s both relaxing and a great way to keep cool in the Florida afternoon sun. There are several species of water birds on the beach, but the sanderlings had my attention in the moment. They spend their days running back and forth in a perpetual “wave chase” and digging their bills in the sand looking for marine invertebrates. It seems totally monotonous to me, but it was what they were created to do.
That day I spotted a pair of them in their usual pattern of following the waves, but noticed one had a leg that merely dangled from his little feathered body. Apparently, something had snagged and broken it. It fascinated me that the little bird could still keep up with his sanderling buddy while only hopping on one foot instead of two. At one point something startled them and they “ran off” together down the beach a bit farther.
There were lessons to observe on the beach that day:
If you know who you are and what you were created to do, you can still do it even if you are a little broken. You might just need a new way to approach it.
Don’t give up. Keep running, even if it involves hopping on one foot for a while, or perhaps a lifetime.
It’s nice to have someone beside you who knows you and what you were created for that can encourage you to keep going no matter what.
It occurred to me that as a life coach that is exactly what I get to do for people.
I help them remember or discover who they were created to be and the things that bring them joy.
I help them stop the perpetual “wave chase” and to focus on their goals and dreams so they actually reach them.
I also have the opportunity, even for a short while, to walk beside them, to encourage, and to watch them learn and grow into their wonderful and beautiful lives. I love helping people live their one beautiful life!