Crash

Originally, when I loaded this piece of artwork earlier this evening, I was going to do a hub on our day out on the sea and treat you my dear Hubbites to some more photos of our lovely island. As life would have it, I had to deal with some stinky wet towels and soggy sandwiches and wash the sea out of my hair before I could settle down to any serious writing, so I saved the painting 'Crash' into draft and went about life as usual.

On returning to my laptop a couple hours later and logging into Facebook I was stunned to find that the wife of one of my dear cyberfriends had been in a serious accident and found out that my new hub friend Teresa had had an unlucky break of her own. Which brings me back to the title of this hub...Crash.

Our lives can change in the blink of an eye, in the crash of a wave on the shore. Our fragile little worlds can fold in upon us without the slightest bit of warning. A slip and a fall, a drunk driver running a red light, an earthquake that strikes when we are asleep. We have no way of knowing what fate lurks just around the corner or will sidle up to us from behind with a cheeky 'hullo' and a grin. Our world comes crashing down around us.

Atoms crash randomly in space, hearts sometimes crash to the floor, planes crash into buildings, reality crashes down on us. And most times we are left unprepared and dazed with the sound of thunder still ringing in our ears.

But like waves that crash upon the shore, slowly beating the stones of time and pounding and powdering and refining into pure white sand, so do our experiences pound and polish us into who we are and who we shall become. The wave grows larger and larger and larger and crashes down upon our backs in a wall of chaos and spume until we are flattened and thrown breathless and battered and half alive upon the shore. Gasping, clutching, praying for release. We can't take, it we can't take it, we can't take it...please, please, please God let this end.....let the noise stop, let the pounding stop, release me from this hell of water and fury. Crash, crash, crash you puny mortal...did you ever think you were in control?

But we are.

We control what we become.

We can choose to let the waves of shock and surprise pound us into nothingness and defeat

or we can chose to be polished and powdered till we shine in the sun like wet coral on the beach...

we can take our shocks and disappointments and hurts and live through them and let them refine us into something more...

A sea change. A shift in light. A new appreciation of our fragility and a determination to live life to the full in the best way we know how. To rise with the wave when it pulls us back from the shore and ride the crest instead of getting sucked down into the churning tides.

Crashing through the barriers of our fear and despair to see the light shining around us..in the faces of the people we love and in the brilliance of our resilient spirit.

Crash....let the moment change you....

Crash....let the waves soothe you....

Crash.....let the moment show you your strength and the blessings in you darkest hour...

I wish Teresa a speedy recovery and am relieved to say that, even though my friend's wife's injuries were pretty bad, she will be OK after some rest and loving care.

Let these two crashes remind us of how precious life and all we hold dear is.

A day on the sea and I float

with my toes to the sky

gazing up at the heavens

and letting the waves of bliss and forgetfulness wash over me

I don't fear the waves

My eyes are so fixed on the heavens

So immersed in my worldly cares

That I don't hear them coming

The dolphins laugh at me

And continue their play, far below the crashing waves

Silly human, she does not know how to dive and escape the danger...

She will tumble onto the shore

While we will ride the currents...

We know the ways of the sea

And the secrets of the waves.

I float blissfully and let the soothing water wash over me

and take away my cares...

Never thinking once about the power it has to crush

and change my fragile life

I listen to the dolphins laugh

and close my eyes and smile..............