The Lesson of The Tide

When I was younger, I saw a painting that I liked very much. It was a picture of a boat, stranded on the beach - unable to move due to it's precarious situation. The title of the picture was: "The Tide Always Comes Back". When I was younger, I didn't truly appreciate the message...or the value of the message that was being conveyed to me. But with age (and experience) the message now has come to be understood loud and clear. There will be times in our life when we do get "stranded" - beached in a way where the situation seems hopeless. We believe that we have lost, or failed, or erred to such a degree that nothing can ever get us "back to sea". But the "tide" always finds a path back to us. It lifts us up once again to try and navigate the waters that caused us pain and heartache before. Life is a constant source of losses and missteps. But if we are willing to learn from our mistakes and not believe that we are defined by our failings, we

will find ourselves risen up as winners....but also remembered as a Champion.