Noticing What Shapes Us

Learning from watching the tide at the beach

· Insights,Attention

On my morning walk along the beach, I was struck by how different it looked compared to the day before.

It was low tide. Expanses of bright green seaweed covered rock, swathes of multi-coloured pebbles and stretches of golden sand were exposed.

The tide comes in and then flows out, with a regular rhythm. With each new tide, the beach is rearranged. Subtle shifts in the sand, the stones, the seaweed. Different every time. Sometimes big, sometimes small shifts. You may not always notice, but things change with the tide.

The pebbles are shaped by the sea and sand, knocking into one another. The edges become rounded by the contact with the others. The variety of colours and shapes is stunning, all finding their place on the beach.

Who are the pebbles in our lives? The people we connect with who have an impact on the shape we become, subtly each day a little more changed by our environment.

Do we take time to pay attention to what is shaping us? Unlike the pebbles on the beach being helplessly tossed around by the waves, we have the ability to choose our thoughts and actions. What choice will you make today?