On my mother's birthday last week, she and I and our dog went walking on the deserted beach we've combed a hundred times before. I followed the "birthday girl's" lead and climbed onto and around some rocks previously unexplored by us. Our dog was in salt-water, crab-shell-eating heaven. We marveled at the new mussel beds and contemplated a late-season harvest.
On the way back to the sandy shore, I asked her what she would most like her coming year to be about for her life. Before she even had a chance to reply, we simultaneously spotted a glittering plastic slipper newly washed ashore. Cinderella's slipper we mused, and my mother revealed that she needed some shoes just like that for showering at the gym. "When I find the other, my prince will come", she kidded, as she noticed that the shoe was a perfect fit.
Joining the gym was a new thing for her. She was now strength-training in more than the typical womanly arts. Strong ideas and character was now being balanced by healthy pecs and rippling muscles. I was proud, as was she....Just then we both spotted the companion in the water, sparkling about 5 feet in from the waters edge. She ripped off her shoes and socks, waded in, and in moments retrieved it. A matching pair of beautiful and useful shoes, the perfect size with the price tag still affixed.
A marvel that felt like a miracle, a question followed by an answer more meaningful than any verbal one that could be presented. The universe is like that- always poised to present the brilliant answer to all of our wonderings. A real shift makes a real gift.
That day, we both learned a great deal. I learned that the answers to our greatest questions are forthcoming- we just have to be willing to recognize the poetic and symbolic language of the universe. She learned that she always gets what she needs, and then some. Those shimmery slippers were far more beautiful than she believed even existed.
We also learned that a new turn in a familiar territory can yield many surprises, that a change of pace can lead to a change of pacer. That a success strategy can be born of a walk on the beach. That a good question leads to a great answer. That miracles are real and really accessible.
That night I had a dream about those mussels. One opened before me and revealed a pearl in the making- rough and crumbly- I also knew that when left alone, at harvest time it would be a true gem.
Strategies and Answers - To learn more about this author, visit Elizabeth Mullen's Website.
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