Joseph had a usual day at work and home. Just like the last few weeks had been.
Usual tiffs at home. Usual tensions at workplace.
It had become so common in his life that he deemed it usual.
There was a quiet voice whispering in his head that the whole world was setup to fail him.
Initially, he struggled and tried hard to fight it, but the frustration mounted with every pushback. With time, he had begun to accept it as part of life and become fatalistic.
One evening he met his old buddy - Dan- who was a lifeguard at the beach.
Dan had seen his friend look dull and slowly sink into himself. He tried to bring him out of the dullness, but he watched with helplessness as weeks panned into months.
Dan knew something inside Joseph had to shift, but he just did not know how.
That evening Dan and Joseph ran out of words after a few minutes and sat silently staring at the vast ocean.
Dan was on the lookout as tides were gradually rising. His duty kept him alert at all times.
Just then, he heard a cry from the far-left side of the beach. An old man was waving hands desperately pointing to the sea. Among the waves was a little boy trying to stay afloat.
Instinctively, Dan realized something was wrong and he picked up his walkie talkie.
Within seconds, Dan and his team swung into action - pulling out a jeep, racing towards the scene. Couple of lifeguards swam in, rescued the boy and brought him ashore.
Joseph was shaken out of his stupor and for a few moments the whisper in his head had stopped.
Later, the two men were at the bar drinking and chatting.
Joseph - “That was a super job, mate! I knew you liked your job, but it is the first time I saw you in action. Hats off!”
Dan - “It is all in the day, Joe. I am relieved we could save the boy. I have seen worse”
Joseph - “You guys are good, quick and experienced. I wonder how that would happen...”
Dan - “Sometimes, people struggle too much in the water. We do our best, but people are making it hard for us to save them…”
Hearing this, Joseph glanced at Dan.
Dan smiled and Joseph let out a wry smile looking sideways.
They quietly sipped their drinks.
Dan broke the awkward pause.
“Let me talk about the riptide - a critical aspect taught to beach lifeguards.
A riptide is a strong ocean current that flows directly away from the shore. A swimmer caught in a riptide is pulled out into the open water.
Intuitively, the swimmer tries to fight the current. But that is precisely wrong. The best of them is also unable to fight this current. Almost a 100 people die in riptides annually.
The right step is to relax and let the current take you along into the open water. However, once the current weakens, you try to swim parallel to the shore and then towards the shore.
You save energy by not fighting the riptide and then, at the right moment, deploy this energy to return to shore once the current is weak.”
Joseph nodded as he understood how the lifeguards had saved the boy.
Dan took a sip from his glass to see if his message had breached the defenses of his friend’s gloomy mind.
After a few seconds, Dan continued -
“Many times, in life, we feel we are swept away like the waves. We feel helpless, as if, there are unknown currents waging a war on you—dragging you further away from your goals.
In such moments, we instinctively fight back against the currents. We try to swim against them - draining your energies.
The harder we try, the more we get pulled away.
We are in a riptide—just like the boy we saw today. Ironically, the right action is opposite what our brain tells us.
When we sense the currents are stronger, we need to accept and allow ourselves to relax and embrace the currents. Flow along with them.
Watch out because the current slowly weakens. At that moment, gather our energy and swiftly swim away and towards the destination.”
Joseph was getting the message now and nodded little more enthusiastically.
Dan gave a fist bump to Joseph as he finished his message -
“Joe, you are in a riptide, mate!
Relax and keep your head above the water.
It is only a matter of time that the currents calm down and give you a break to get back ashore.”
That night Joseph slept like a log.
He woke up early the next day and went for a run on the beach.
As he ran, his mind ran through the previous day.
He felt a sense of clarity, a boulder lifting off his shoulders. He felt lighter, calmer and energetic.
He glanced at the crashing waves and smiled as he sped away with vigor.
Very Insightful....