The ocean never lets you down

I’ve always been this way; I learnt to swim before I learnt to walk. I’m a mermaid. You could stick me out in the middle of the ocean and I’d swim my way home.

I find my peace in a force that’s forever and constantly changing. On a bad day, I’ll walk straight into it, clothes and all, and float on my back like a starfish. The rest of the world disappears. All I can hear is my own breathing. All I can feel is my own heart. Everything around me is moving, but finally, I am still.

The ocean never lets you down. It might surprise you, or frighten you, or challenge you, but it’s always there for you. There’s nothing more powerful. It’s stronger than wind, than fire. You can get to know it but you can never 100 percent predict it. Some days the swell will come up faster than you could ever imagine, and you’ll have to battle your way out. You’ll take waves on the head over and over again, swallowing water, barely able to catch your breath. You’ll be scared and exhausted, but you can’t give up. If you give up in the ocean, you’ll never walk out of it. So you keep swimming, keep thinking, keep moving. You find your inner reserves. And when you make it out, you’ve never been so grateful. You have accepted what the ocean has offered you, and you’ve proven yourself in the process. It’s a metaphor for life. What you believe you can do, you can.