On a beach in Costa Rica, I witnessed the fragile and miraculous journey of life’s ups and downs in a 30-foot journey down a sandy sunset path to the frothy ocean. The crowd erupted in cheer each time a newly hatched turtle successfully made its way to the water.
These tiny turtles, with the odds stacked against them, relied on instinct and a will bigger than their fragile bodies to overcome the first obstacle of their new lives.
I feel we have all faced seemingly unsurmountable obstacles in recent years. We take one step forward, only to be swept back by the tide, struggling to make the slightest amount of progress. Sometimes, it seems we are just trying to survive, rather than thrive. It has been a time of unprecedented uncertainty, and unfathomable challenges.
We are all tired, weary and worn. We are short on hope. We are on a singular journey, even though we are all on a collective quest to make it to better days.
Empathy stores deplete with every wave that hits us, and with it goes our patience. We need to keep trying to generate empathy. We need to keep spreading it around. We all want an end to this tumultuous trek we’ve been forced to take. We didn’t sign up for it, and we don’t like it, yet like the determined turtle hatchlings, we somehow press on, believing better things are ahead, if we can just take one step forward.
We must honour each other’s individual journey and struggles, without judgement. It does not matter how fast others go, whether they take the same path, or even if they get there. It only matters that we see one another, and celebrate each other with encouragement, love, and respect.
Wouldn’t it be good if we could do that? We are all small. We are all just trying to make our own way down the beach.