“It may be a blessing in disguise”
- Annie Butterfield

Swimming Against the Tide

Have you ever had your eye fixed on a goal only to find that things haven’t worked out the way you wanted them to? Have you ever struggled with creating an outcome you wanted, only to find that nothing you can do will cause it to come into being? I call it “swimming against the tide.”

I don’t know if you’ve ever had experience swimming in the ocean or not. I haven’t had a lot of ocean swimming experience so I don’t know a lot about it, but I had heard about a phenomenon called a rip tide and I had seen signs on the beach warning of rip tide conditions. But that didn’t prepare me for an experience with one.

When I was in college some friends and I decided to travel to Mexico for spring break. We went to Acapulco to spend time in the sand and warm ocean air. It was a wonderful break from the snow, cold and wind we were experiencing at the University of Utah.

There were four of us on this adventure and we were drinking in the sunshine. We found some new friends and spent our days and nights drowning in the moment. It was a trip to remember!

One day we went to out of town to the Princess Hotel to be with some new friends. The hotel had a great beach and we took advantage of it. I love to swim so I went out to body surf with my buddies. Out and in we went. The waves were like music. The sky was as deep as the ocean. It was one of those days where the crowd of people added to the experience. It wouldn’t have been as fun without lots of people there to share with.

I was always with friends until one moment when I noticed that everyone became distant from me in what seemed to be an instant. I’m a strong swimmer and didn’t give it a second thought. I could see the beach so all I had to do was to swim in!

The harder I swam, the further away I got. In a few minutes I became tired and a little frightened. I couldn’t understand what was happening. All I knew was that the beach was getting farther and farther away despite my best efforts.

Just at the moment of despair I noticed a young man swimming next to me. He was clearly a “local” and he began to talk with me.

“Are you alright?” he asked.

“Yes.” I said.

I was not completely honest!

He just looked at me and said, “Follow me.”

I did follow him and to my surprise he didn’t head directly to the beach. He headed to our right.
Soon, the ocean became my friend again as it began to gently push us to the beach in a constant, encouraging motion. I relaxed. We arrived on the beach where we were greeted by my friends.
We stood on the beach and my young rescuer pointed to a brown stripe in the water. It was a different color than the water we had just glided through. He said, “You were caught in a rip tide. You could not have made it back fighting the strength of the ocean.”

In a moment he was gone. I don’t know who he was. I do know that he was more experienced than I!

It is impossible for any one of us to know everything there is to know. It is impossible for any one of us to have all the experience we need. So, it’s a good thing we know each other.
My friend Judith Rasoletti and I had a wonderful talk this week. She had been swimming against the tide in her life. She knew the water around her was brown and dark. She didn’t know what direction to swim in to make it back to safety.

“I was looking for office space and read a small ad,” she said.

“Now my business is doing well and is growing. I am with a great group of people that are helping me.”

She is swimming with the tide again. The strength of the ocean is gently pushing her toward her beach and she is gliding with confidence. All it took was a small change in direction.

I know I’m not always able to see the color of the water around me without help and sometimes it seems as if the right direction is the wrong direction. It is at those times I listen to my daughter Annie’s words, “It could be a blessing in disguise.”

At those times I also hear Judith’s words, “We can’t do it without each other. In times like these the real blessing is to have lots of friends to help us.”

You have valuable experience. Share it with everyone you can. We can all use the help!