#3 NATURE

Yesterday I went to the beach. I understand that everyone doesn't live by a beach, so I know that someone is cursing me right now for living in Florida. One thing I have always loved is nature. Whether it is going to the beach or taking a walk in the park, I love how Mother Nature always seems to surprise us. In New York it would always rain cats and dogs at any moment, so I always carried an umbrella in my bag. Sometimes I would be so pissed when the rain started to pour, but there were moments when I loved to see how rain could change everything in one second. Even the day after it rained you could see how the trees and grass were different from the day before. I know this may seem a little tree huggerish (if that is a word), but sometimes when I just stopped and looked at how beautiful nature is, I made me feel how lucky I am to experience this everyday. In places like New York City where finding nature is like finding a needle in a haystack, Central Park was the place I usually went to . It would revitalize me, but only if I was open to it. I would take a detour from my usual route home, get off on Columbus Circle and just sit for 10 minutes, stop and breathe. Sometimes all I needed to do was stop and breathe even for those few minutes and it made me appreciate the beauty that surrounded me.

Here is a little side story about my day yesterday. I love the beach, but I have a little fear of the ocean. I only go in a little bit, but not too far because I always think I am going to drown. I love to think that somewhere in my past life I dramatically drowned from a boat crash whipped away from my long lost lover. Maybe I was on the Titanic? (Probably not, but it's nice to wish). Anyway, yesterday it was incredibly windy and the waves were a surfers dream. When I looked at the waves, they were so beautiful but I didn't want to go in. I thought to myself, I am at the beach, why not try to face your fear? So I did, I dived in and kept swimming. After facing my fear of the ocean, I ended up getting hit by a wave and swallowing nasty sea water, but that's not the point. I felt like I faced my fear of mother nature and tried something new. I am not sure if this story goes with my love of nature today, but it made me feel like I could conquer the world. I may get hit with a wave on the way, but at least I took a step. One win for me, one loss for my fears.
-M