Into the Waters…

It’s not officially summer yet – we still have a few more weeks until the solstice.  But don’t tell my children that!  Our trips to the beach means to them that summer is high and all of the swimming, sprinklers and barbecues that they’ve been waiting for all year is finally upon us.

There’s always the tiniest bit of trepidation, though, when we make our first trip to the water after a year of keeping safely from shore (or walking on its ice, yikes!).  They stood there, their tiny feet cautiously approaching the waves that lapped the shore.  One little hand grasped the other’s little hand, as if it gave them strength, and together, they shrieked, laughed and bit their lip as they made their way into the waves.  I could see them look out, over a vast and endless horizon of water, and as I sat back and watched my children courageously face the great waters ahead of them, I felt a strange connection between their tiny steps and my life right now.

Like them, there is an endless “unknown” ahead of me right now.  And like them, I have the choice of whether or not to stay safely on shore, or to start to slowly tread my way in these waters of the unknown.  I only hope to be able to do that with the same type of joy that they have.  My children truly are my inspiration.