Samara beach, log date 1.18.2017
I have my amazing days, and I have my days when I am feeling sorry for myself because I'm miserable with a sunburn. I'm human, I can't help it. I have visited a man in the hospital with advanced cancer who tried to be cheerful for his guests. I was so impressed. All I had was a sunburn from riding a moped through parts of Costa Rica. Thanks to aloe vera, I avoided blisters. Yet still us humans find a way to let things get to us. So I took some time out, and then yesterday was outstanding again.
And then today I received an email. It was kind of funny. I went to tut.com to get 'daily messages from the universe'. I've been getting them for years. Today it said:
When little things start to bother you, Suzette, it might be because you need more big things in your life.
Happily, there's a super-easy spiritual fix: Get out more.
It's all spiritual,
The Universe
I swam again, linked to Ron with each of us holding an end of the mesh bag for the fins. Nothing too remarkable, mostly sand. Sand, and my imagination. I believe in The Secret (book/movie), which talks a lot about the Law of Attraction. I was worried about seeing something scary, which meant I felt like I was going to attract something scary. Then all I had a wave come over the top of my snorkel tube. Ugh. I love the ocean, but I truly lack fondness for the taste of salt water. That, and things that threaten my God given right to breathe. So I started to panic. I don't have panic attacks, in general. It was kind of a new experience for me. Usually they are in the middle of the night, waking up from a nightmare. I was lucky, it didn't last long. I was trying to get used to fins, and being in deeper water, while clearing out my tube, while not dropping my mask. Yeesh. I again continued to be blessed from working with disabilities. I worked with people who had severe anxiety disorders. I had to take my own advice now. A leaf was in the water, and I tried to ground myself. I looked at the leaf, I grabbed the leaf, I listened to my quick breathing and made myself slow it down. I noted the saltiness in my mouth (after working so hard to ignore it). I recovered, who knows how long it took? I don't wear a watch any more, let alone while snorkeling. I kept that leaf until the water was 2 feet deep again.
After that, I didn't want to give up. Not any more than I wanted to risk another round of panic. Tough call. We reached some rocks, and finally saw some fish. And there was this one fish that made up for it all. I tried to google a picture of it, but didn't have much luck. I typed in blue and yellow and purple fish. The head was blue. It had a yellow band just past it's head. Then it was a purple color. Then the small tail was blue like the head. It was so cool. I was able to follow it around for a bit. Simply amazing. Then we went back to shore, the waves were too much. I will snorkel again. In shallow water! I felt like I had accomplished something, because I over-came my fear. Life is about pushing through the scary moments, and seeing what's on the other side. However, I much prefer chosen and calculated risks. And not crocodile hunting, for instance.
Then we had a long and luxurious lunch at a beautiful restaurant on the beach. I needed that! The kind of place where you ride your bike in the hot sun, and then the parking lot is shaded. And there is a huge cement statue of a tribal head at the entrance. And you walk past 2 big parrots who have their own little area, but not caged. Then you sit in the shade of palm trees and look out at the beach and the sun sparkling on the water. And when you finally get your plate of gorgeous looking food, you are good and hungry. The chairs are comfy and you (ok, me) are tired enough to enjoy sitting still. The weather is perfect, with a nice little breeze, and I sat back and looked around at what everyone was wearing. Who had on something darling, or daring, or who was more brave than daring in their choices. I'm trying to observe, not judge, but it ain't easy.
The last thing about my great day was this: seeing people we know. We have officially been here long enough to know things, and people. Some people were taking a picture of a bird, and I knew that it was a magpie-jay. Walking to go snorkel we came across 3 people we know. Going home from lunch we had to stop for a long conversation with a friend, before finally getting back to some air conditioning. Pura vida, my friends. The Costa Rican lifestyle of pure life, and taking things in stride.
And then today I received an email. It was kind of funny. I went to tut.com to get 'daily messages from the universe'. I've been getting them for years. Today it said:
When little things start to bother you, Suzette, it might be because you need more big things in your life.
Happily, there's a super-easy spiritual fix: Get out more.
It's all spiritual,
The Universe
I swam again, linked to Ron with each of us holding an end of the mesh bag for the fins. Nothing too remarkable, mostly sand. Sand, and my imagination. I believe in The Secret (book/movie), which talks a lot about the Law of Attraction. I was worried about seeing something scary, which meant I felt like I was going to attract something scary. Then all I had a wave come over the top of my snorkel tube. Ugh. I love the ocean, but I truly lack fondness for the taste of salt water. That, and things that threaten my God given right to breathe. So I started to panic. I don't have panic attacks, in general. It was kind of a new experience for me. Usually they are in the middle of the night, waking up from a nightmare. I was lucky, it didn't last long. I was trying to get used to fins, and being in deeper water, while clearing out my tube, while not dropping my mask. Yeesh. I again continued to be blessed from working with disabilities. I worked with people who had severe anxiety disorders. I had to take my own advice now. A leaf was in the water, and I tried to ground myself. I looked at the leaf, I grabbed the leaf, I listened to my quick breathing and made myself slow it down. I noted the saltiness in my mouth (after working so hard to ignore it). I recovered, who knows how long it took? I don't wear a watch any more, let alone while snorkeling. I kept that leaf until the water was 2 feet deep again.
After that, I didn't want to give up. Not any more than I wanted to risk another round of panic. Tough call. We reached some rocks, and finally saw some fish. And there was this one fish that made up for it all. I tried to google a picture of it, but didn't have much luck. I typed in blue and yellow and purple fish. The head was blue. It had a yellow band just past it's head. Then it was a purple color. Then the small tail was blue like the head. It was so cool. I was able to follow it around for a bit. Simply amazing. Then we went back to shore, the waves were too much. I will snorkel again. In shallow water! I felt like I had accomplished something, because I over-came my fear. Life is about pushing through the scary moments, and seeing what's on the other side. However, I much prefer chosen and calculated risks. And not crocodile hunting, for instance.
Then we had a long and luxurious lunch at a beautiful restaurant on the beach. I needed that! The kind of place where you ride your bike in the hot sun, and then the parking lot is shaded. And there is a huge cement statue of a tribal head at the entrance. And you walk past 2 big parrots who have their own little area, but not caged. Then you sit in the shade of palm trees and look out at the beach and the sun sparkling on the water. And when you finally get your plate of gorgeous looking food, you are good and hungry. The chairs are comfy and you (ok, me) are tired enough to enjoy sitting still. The weather is perfect, with a nice little breeze, and I sat back and looked around at what everyone was wearing. Who had on something darling, or daring, or who was more brave than daring in their choices. I'm trying to observe, not judge, but it ain't easy.
The last thing about my great day was this: seeing people we know. We have officially been here long enough to know things, and people. Some people were taking a picture of a bird, and I knew that it was a magpie-jay. Walking to go snorkel we came across 3 people we know. Going home from lunch we had to stop for a long conversation with a friend, before finally getting back to some air conditioning. Pura vida, my friends. The Costa Rican lifestyle of pure life, and taking things in stride.
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