I was walking by the shore when I saw it – a sailboat resting on the sand. It looked out of place, tilted and still, as if it had been caught between two worlds. Boats aren’t meant to be here. They belong in the water, steady at anchor, moving gently with the tide.
But the waves had been rough. The sea had changed its mind. And in that shift, the boat was carried from where it belonged to a place it never expected.
Life can be just like that.
We spend so much time building anchors – routines, work, relationships, the little patterns that make us feel safe and stable. Until suddenly, something changes. The storm comes in, and without warning, we find ourselves on unfamiliar ground. Not where we thought we should be, not where we planned to be – yet there we are.
It can feel uncomfortable. Wrong, even. But just like this boat, being pushed ashore doesn’t mean the journey is over. Sometimes life brings us out of the water for a reason. Maybe it’s for rest. Maybe it’s for repair. Maybe it’s to give us a new perspective before we set sail again.
Because the truth is, nothing stays the same forever. The sea is always moving, and so is life. What feels like disruption may actually be transition. What feels like an ending might just be a pause.
The boat will one day return to the water. And so will we, in our own way. But in the meantime, when life pushes us onto unfamiliar ground, we can choose to see it not as failure, but as a moment of redirection. A chance to pause, to repair, to reset, to listen.
So the next time the waves carry you somewhere unexpected, remember this: you’re not broken, and you’re not lost. You’re simply being reshaped for the next part of the journey. Trust the tide.
