If It's The Beaches...

I try my best not to write when I'm feeling overly emotional, but for some reason tonight I am comforted by the clicking sound the keys make as I release all that's shut up inside of me like a water dam.

Out of all the thoughts I have sorted and attempted to file away tonight, one haunts me more than the rest. It can be summed up in one word. Fight. Fight for yourself, fight for a cause, fight for someone. Too often do we float instead of fight.

Never been white water rafting and never had any desire to do so. I have such a vivid picture in my mind of how it's been described to me though. A group of people paddling against crashing rapids, each responsible for the person in front of them. I may be mistaken, but I believe you are responsible for holding onto or grabbing the assigned person if things get too bumpy. The entire experience is a fight. A fight to paddle, and a fight to hold on.

Sometimes people lose their fight when they feel like they are the only one fighting. This is when the floating process comes in to play. My floating analogy can best be compared to the 'Lazy River,' which is an actual "ride" at The Beach Water Park in Cincinnati, Ohio. This is by far the most boring thing you can do while at the water park. Why would anyone want to float in a circle around the park all day when you could be plunging down pipes, picking wedgies out of your brain??

My point is, once you have lost your fight you begin to float. You are responsible for no one but your lazy self and you sure don't have to worry about the people you are floating with because they have about as much fight in them as you do. They are content to let their butts float along and drag the bottom of the waiting pool and as the old adage goes...misery loves company.

The rapids are scary and holding onto someone else can be even more frightening. There's a chance you might even lose them. It beats the hell out of floating though. Life is not meant to be repeated year after year with the same routines and patterns. It's not meant to be manipulated and it's not something you float through. You paddle, you grit your teeth and you reach for that person that is counting on you. Floaters and rafters will never be able to do life together. Settlers and dreamers will never be able to do life together.

It is the beaches I want and I had to get off the lazy river to get there. When you find your life floating in a continuous, same scenery kind of circle, the important thing to remember is...the intertubes are not connected and there are always exits. Grab a paddle and hold on...