The
opportunity I was given to witness true beauty, unexpecting to see it
in the ways I did.
Taking a seven day cruise through the Caribbean for a week seemed like a pretty nice way to spend a
thanksgiving considering that I am unable to be with my family. On
our first island stop we arrived in St. Thomas Virgin Islands. magnificent,
I must say, looking around as I walk off this giant boat I'd been
calling home the last couple of days. The lay outs of the island
remind me of something you'd imagine when describing Greece, there
were moments where you didn't know whether to be amazed or frightened
by the driving, which was on the wrong side of the road!
Naturally, I was drawn to the downtown
part of the city, intrigued by what they would have to offer. An
array of shops and tax free things available for purchase, can't get
much better then that! We met all kinds of people from all over the
world, all with an amazing peace of mind about them because they were
all there for the same purpose, to explore, to have adventure. As we
were enjoying this amazing sun, checking out the map of the island,
it randomly started raining out of nowhere. Laughing, we ran to find a restaurant in an attempt to add some alcohol to this
excitement.
We sat at the bar and noticed a nice
man sitting on a bar stool alone, enjoying a foreign beer. We asked him
what his name was, of course curious about him! His sweet British
accent was happy to talk with us, he smiled and told us his name was
Andrew. He said that he was traveling on a different cruise, island hopping as well.
We asked him where his family was for
this excursion, he looked at us kindly with a smile and said, “I
came on this vacation alone, I've been travelling as much as
possible, spending all of my money.” I thought he was absolutely
hilarious. Until he explained that he had been diagnosed with cancer
last year and found out that it was terminal. He said that he had
never been married, nor had any children. He worked really hard for
44 straight years and decided he wanted to spend his remaining time
seeing the world.
His glow truly enchanted me, even after
everything he'd been through he was still incredibly positive. Many
people in a position like that start to look for people to blame, and
spend a majority of their time left miserable. I find it admirable
that he was doing what made him happy for the time he had left.
The rain started to simmer and the sun
was shining again, so we decided to make our way to the top of a
mountain to get a true view of where we actually were. We made it to the top after taking an incredibly scary bus ride, and the view
was absolutely beautiful. I felt blessed for even being able to
witness it.
Everyone had been telling us about this
incredible beach we needed to see called Megan Bay. We took a 15
minute taxi ride through crazy mountain roads and arrived at a little
hidden treasure. The water was so tame and crystal blue. The
surrounding islands had houses all around but no actual visuals of
any roads, it looked as if the houses were popping out of the trees.
The ocean water actually felt warm and
comforting compared to the rain coming down. I hurried to get out and
cover up our stuff, as I turned back around peering at the water I
noticed all of the other people rushing out to get
shelter..........except this one woman.
Standing in the ocean, her arms up in
the air, swaying back and forth painting a heavenly smile on her
face. It seemed like I was in a dream of some sort as she stood there
openly laughing in pure joy, diving into the water then out again,
continuously spinning in circles, closing her eyes just enough to take
it all in.
…... Her graceful bliss was so
unbelievably exquisite and she looked as free as a bird, loving life
for all it was giving her. You could tell that she appreciated the
serenity surrounding her, and at that exact moment without knowing
it, she inspired me to jump back in the water. I wanted to feel what
she was feeling. Her unwillingness to give-in to what she “should”
be doing made me want to do the same.
This moment for me was true and utter
peace, not just because of what was around me......because I was able
to allow myself to give-in and feel that INNER freedom.
… thanks to that beautiful lady in
the ocean, dancing in the rain.
“Emancipate yourself from mental
slavery.”-BM
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