One of the attorney’s I work for is a weekend diver. Nothing thrills him more than a clear day and some deep water.
Well, I take that back…one of Jeff’s cakes does cause him to stumble a bit…but I am talking about a really good day. The kind of day you anticipate the night before.
I remember when my baby sister, Aimee and I went to North Carolina for the She Speaks Conference last summer. We both had trouble sleeping the night before.
Mine was due to the fact I was busy crossing the “t’s” and dotting the “i’s” on the material we were to have ready….Aimee was busy “thinking”…packing, and most likely cooking for the family she was leaving at home. She left them with “reheating” instructions and a solemn promise of her soon return.
The trip was filled with excitement and incredulity. We were first AMAZED that we made it through Atlanta unscathed. Or, to be more specific…that we didn’t scathe anyone else. Secondly, it was incredible to find ourselves in the same room with the “best” Writers, Speakers and Women’s Leaders in the world! Well, maybe not the world—but at least in the Southeastern United States. How’s that?
However, upon coming back home, life invaded our dream world. Our world of where we could buy that little house or bookstore and turn it into an inviting Tea Room, filled with books, soft music, Jeff’s cakes, cookies and the best hot coffee or cup of tea, and always a friend or a soon to be friend browsing the shelves in search of the next best read.
Yes, life resumed. Actually, I think it picked up pace. As in every one’s life…there are days when we feel surrounded.
Just when you think you are swimming serenely alone, you find yourself suddenly surrounded by a cloud of Baitfish. Just as this picture of the Sea Turtle, he was minding his own business and became enveloped by the Baitfish. The Baitfish are EXACTLY what the name implies. Bait. For bigger fish.
Finding himself encompassed by Baitfish will cause the heart to quicken it’s beating, the diver explained. The “cloud of Baitfish” is so thick, you lose your vision. You lose sight of where you are. It becomes a vertiginous dive. Dizziness overtakes you and you don’t know which end is up.
You know that you must get out of the overwhelming cloud—somehow—because you know what could be coming. A hungry fish. Very hungry. Hungry enough to possibly chomp on a hand—arm—foot—even part of your face.
Isn’t that what sometimes happens in our lives? We are surrounded with feelings of doubt, insecurity, and many times the overwhelming desire to “give-up”—a feeling of hopelessness.
In talking with a young mother months ago, the feeling of a life filled with emotional vertigo was overtaking her. I could clearly see what she needed to do. I could give her immediate instructions which way to paddle her swiftly sinking boat. But she was so surrounded by the Baitfish in her life she couldn’t see or hear me. It wasn’t until the predator fish was about to overtake her did she comprehend the whereabouts of her help.
Jeff & Angie 