Rip currents

Rip currents are strong, localized, and rather narrow currents of water. They are strongest near the surface of the water, and move directly away from the shore, cutting through the lines of breaking waves. Rip currents can occur at any beach where there are breaking waves: on oceans, seas, and large lakes.
Understandably, rip currents can be dangerous to swimmers. One moment you have everything under control and you are close to the beach, while the next you are in a strong current that leads you away from the beach faster than you would think possible…

At most beaches where rip currents occur, warnings are posted.
This is not true for life itself…

In life we may not call them rip currents necessarily, but we have ~ in all likelihood ~ all experienced a situation that seemed to be going so well, to then suddenly ‘go sideways’. And the goal that seemed so close, rapidly slips from our hands. It is always interesting how in our lives we do come across the same type of events we see in nature, bringing us to where we do have to handle the nice weather days, the stormy days, the drizzly days of life ~ as well as the occasional rip current in life.

Whether we land in a rip current while swimming, or see things go sideways in life; the immediate solution is the same. Rather than fighting the current head on, our best option is to start swimming at right angles to the direction of the current. Because as soon as we are outside of the rip current, we can swim back to the coastline. The same often is true when things go sideways in life; rather than fighting the forces that are pushing us in a different direction, we are often better off choosing a different direction ourselves.
If we cannot reach our goal going around the left, then let’s try going around the right side of what is at play.

Chances are that as soon as we widen our perspective from ‘this is the way to reach our goal’, to ‘there are all kinds of roads leading to Rome’, things start falling into place again. And the new direction, the new path we walk to reach that goal, may turn out to have added benefits that we never dreamed about ~ let alone considered in our decision making process…

Where the rip currents in the ocean can be extremely dangerous, the rip currents of life tend to tell us that there is a better way; perhaps even a path toward better, greater goals than we had ever imagined!
.
.