Meditation between waves and rocks

A week ago tomorrow I visited the beach after more than a year's absence. I even wrote a short post about the playful experience, showing the beauty of the place, with family bonding as a backdrop.

Although I kept the images of intimate moments to myself, I did show the setting as a tourist promoter. However, I also kept some photos where rocks and crashing waves were the protagonists.

The yellowish sand was the perfect canvas in the photographic set. The sweet sound paradoxically conveyed peace and anxiety at the same time. I thought about capturing the experience on video, preserving the magical moment. But in relative solitude, I opted to apply some photographic techniques by playing with my daughter's camera: a Nikon 3100.

However, at that moment, I set aside my planned reading of Epictetus' Enchiridion, a PDF file I had downloaded to my phone to enjoy it lying on the beach lounger and letting the sea breeze wash over me. I don't regret it, as I had a synopsis of the Stoic philosopher in mind. Perhaps, he was the cause of my experience between the rocks and the sea.

Let me explain.

Epictetus advised you to determine what is really under your control in order to free yourself from anxiety and the weight of those things that do not depend on you, although they affect you. So, I assumed that I was like one of those rocks on the shore and that the waves would act like the circumstances that come to me. Some will come with force, and some will barely graze me.

What good does it do me to worry about the waves? I cannot prevent them from overtaking me, but I can take care of my own strength. Here again, came my anguish when I asked myself: how can I strengthen myself? Nature has taken care of that too. And all that will be left for me is to succumb in time.

Then I said to myself: What if I am one of those waves? Vain concern, it is also not up to me how hard I will hit the rock or how hard I will caress it. In the end, in both cases, it is a waste to worry about what is out of my control, and yours too.

So the only thing left is to adapt and find ways to deal with these circumstances. Something we do every day, overwhelmed by stress. Maybe that's why walking more often in nature can bring you to that state, between relaxation and contemplation, which helps you recognize what is under your control and accept what is not. A step towards the desired happiness.

Fools discard old knowledge, believing themselves more informed by living in an ultra-modern world. On that beach, who knows how many ancestors faced the fundamentals of good living, while we disguise ourselves and drown in a glass of water.