A Day at the Beach

This past weekend I spent a great weekend at the beach in Ohope with the boy. We filled all of Saturday with reading, relaxing and of course building sand castles! I'm not just talking your average sand castles. We created the castle, a moat for the castle, a wall to protect the moat, and a channel to funnel the water. It was quite the adventure.

As we were hard at work in the sweltering sun, the family next to us was probably also enjoying a relaxing weekend. Their daughter sure was. She was probably about 7 or 8 years old and running stark naked into the water and around the beach, not a care in the world. My first thought was of course, "Why would her parents allow her to run around naked in such a public place, isn't she a little old for that!?" But the longer we spent at the beach and the more I observed the little family beside us and their laughter and joy to just be spending time with one another, I realized that if they were completely comfortable with their daughter running around naked, then who was I to judge? She surely didn't care. Her energy and enthusiasm to be jumping into the ocean waves and rolling around in the sand was unmatched by any other individual I saw on the beach that day, and I do enjoy a little people watching while lounging on my towel.

Moral of the story: If running around butt naked at the ocean is what brings you pure joy than do not let anyone stand in your way! Maybe we could all learn a lesson about the simplicity and carefree attitude that children seem to posses. A spirit which probably once used to inhabit your own very soul before the opinions and pressures of society and adulthood weighed you down. Food for thought.