Surfing the waves of life

It's normal to feel sad and angry about things one day (or moment), and then okay the next. Healing and growth aren't a straight, smooth cruise to the top. They're a crazy rollercoaster ride.

The key is learning to surf the waves that shake things up and reveal the truth—the stuff hidden beneath the sand. Without storms and waves, we stagnate, freeze and cling like a barnacle to whatever we think is our life preserver.

But no matter how badly we want things to stay the same, everything is in a constant state of change. Nothing lasts forever, so clinging never works. If we cling to something long enough, releasing our vice grip feels like torture, a death sentence.

Find lasting freedom and peace involves learning to trust, to let go, to align with the flow and ride the ever-changing waves of life. Once we trust ourselves, the ride can become more meaningful no matter what happens. We may coast along gracefully sometimes and crash violently other times, right along with everyone else.

There's no shame in the crashes. They mean we're alive and fully living. Experiencing the good, bad and ugly in life is the being part of human—having real experiences, feeling a range of emotions, living courageously instead of keeping our car in the drabness of the garage...because nothing great comes from that.

Remember that if we change nothing, nothing changes.