Out of the DEEP Blue Sea

So my friend Kristen sent a link to a really great photo blog today...I spent a couple of minutes looking through it and came across the below statement made by one of the photographers "subject"...Something about it struck me in the gut...So I am posting it here.  The idea behind the below blog belongs to Brandon Stanton...a young man with a wonderful eye for humanity and great artistic skill..the two combined make this blog incredibly compelling.  With over 1 million followers on his Humans of New York blog...a book has been compiled of his photographs and the stories of his subjects...I will be buying it! 

So here is one the quote that struck me!


"If you could give one piece of advice to a large group of people, what would it be?"

"When a wave comes, go deep."

"I think I’m going to need an explanation for that one."

"There’s three things you can do when life sends a wave at you. You can run from it, but then it’s going to catch up and knock you down. You can also fall back on your ego and try to stand your ground, but then it’s still going to clobber you. Or you can use it as an opportunity to go deep, and transform yourself to match the circumstances. And that’s how you get through the wave.”

I really loved this idea today...

There would have been a time in my life that I would have thought that the best way to face a "Wave" would have been Head On...or High Tail It...with my generally personality...HEAD ON...would have probably been my 1st choice...or better said, the choice I THOUGHT I should make!!
Again...the idea of taking a stand...to show my toughness...to show that I will not be broken...facing the crash of The Wave...balls to the wall!!! (sorry)... Reality is...some of those traits in and of themselves are not bad traits to have..however, when combined with stubbornness or pride..anger or resentment..they can be more destructive than the Wave I face! 

Many times in the past when I thought about taking on the challenge of taking my life back from poor health...when I thought about losing weight as a means to improve my life...I did so with a resentful heart...an angry, victimized frame of mind.  I resented having the "problems"...being sick...being "fluffy"...being told that I HAD to change in order to LIVE!!!  In my mind...I did not choose to be ill OR fat...so why was the burden on me to change it!!  That is the plain old ugly truth. 

It, quite frankly, pissed me off!  Numerous Dr's looked me in the eye..said, "Yes...you may be sick...but if you were not obese...life would be easier...REALLY??? 

I had Dr.'s make assessments of who I was because I was fat...I even had a Dr. tell me that it was because I was lazy...and heavily insinuate that "thin people" are "smart people" and that "fat people" lack a certain level of intelligence...I will refrain from sharing what my response was to that...but those of you that know me well can probably use your imagination.

I developed a posture of walking into a Dr.'s office and literally rushing to say it first...the "Obese" word...taking that off the table and making an attempt to address what the health issues were at the time...It was a big UGLY WAVE...a cycle of WAVES that came crashing down on me with me.. bowing up and fighting without knowledge of what it was exactly I was fighting for....

But here is the deal...I had to take a different approach in facing this particular WAVE...This reality that my health was bad...my body was being ravaged by extra weight and it did not matter what others thought...It mattered what I knew.  I was and am TIRED of being ILL and thank God...and I do mean Thank GOD...that I had the opportunity for Divine Inspiration that came in a way that I could relate to...in a form that I could hear and embrace!!! Even though logically it did not make much sense...for me it was perfect.

So...HOW am I facing this Life WAVE?  By going DEEP...some days deeper than others...:)

A Deep Transformation...A Deep gradual Acceptance...A Deep renewal of Faith...A Deep Love for this Journey...

I am learning to take the things I already know about myself..believe to be true and go a little deeper each day...I am learning to take Love into consideration when I evaluate my own progress and be willing to love my Journey...with each Wave that passes!

I am learning that TRANSFORMATION TAKES TIME...that instead of fighting my circumstances...resenting them with all my might...I can in fact, change them...or at the very minimum make the decision to transform who I am while I face those circumstances. 

It still requires toughness, strength, courage...but it also requires forgiveness, love, compassion, patience and persistence.  It requires that I deeply love, deeply share, deeply believe in this Journey that I am on and not doubt for a minute that I can do IT...

It requires a deeper honesty, a deeper understanding and a deeper appreciation about who I am and the blessings I have all around me.  It requires that I take deeper risks...It requires that I make a deeper commitment to my own well being so that I can be a better me.

It requires traveling Deep under the wave..through the wave and taking all the things the Wave is supposed to teach me...Each wave has a blessing...God sees to that!!!

Deep enough??? LOL!!

Lastly...Inspiration is a sneaky, beautiful thing...It can come in a word...a picture, a smile, a hug, a majestic mountain...or from a sweet ray of Sunshine...Six Feet of It!!!!  OR Out of the DEEP Blue Sea!!!!



PLEASE check out this amazing blog of wonderful photos....and thanks Kristen for sharing!!!

http://www.humansofnewyork.com/