Dance of Solitude

While on a cruise with my husband David, we decided to take a side excursion in Dominica to a beautiful rainforest. We were there to go tubing down what were supposed to be gentle rapids. I started getting nervous when I was strapped into a heavy duty life jacket but it was too late to turn back as I would have been left alone in the jungle. So off we hiked to get to the river and begin our mile gentle ride down. The river looked pretty calm as we slid on top of our inner tubes and lined up neatly in a row. Not too bad, I thought. Oh boy, it wasn’t long before I began to feel the speed picking up; I tried to pretend I did not hear rushing rapids ahead. I struggled frantically to keep my inner tube balanced as many ahead of me were spinning out of control.
I watched in horror as three people flipped upside down then desperately attempted to grab their run-away inner tube. This was beginning to look more like Niagara Falls to me than gentle rapids! I saw a few people standing nearby and trying to reach others in trouble. I made it down without flipping and thought this must be the most difficult part of our ride. Wrong! I hit bubbling, chu
ing rapids, and all I could think was ‘I am going to die.’ Over I went with a death grip on my inner tube. I was upside down, frantically attempting to avoid the rocks while choking and screaming at the same time. The next thing I knew, arms were grabbing me and pulling me to safety.
The last thing I wanted to do was climb back onto that inner tube, but one of our guides, whom by this point I hated, said, “It’s okay, Miss. It is calm ahead and when we reach the end, there is a beautiful pool that is so calm it looks like glass.” He could tell I was still shaken from my ordeal and didn’t totally believe him. He said, “I will pull you and your tube the rest of the way until we get to the pool.” Now that was a deal. He paddled us along while I relaxed and for the first time got to look around this magnificent forest. And sure enough, he had told the truth and he floated me to the middle of the most beautiful, breathtaking, calm pool I had ever seen. I took a few deep breaths and just simply allowed myself to be one with the nature around me. I left all my worrying, striving, thrashing and fear behind. I had left the chu
ing rapids for the calmness of the sacred pool.
This is exactly what we need to do with life. Leave all the turmoil behind and step away to a quiet sacred space and quiet our minds, like the tranquil pool at the end of the rapids. Life can keep us chu
ing and spinning until we feel like we are upside down and gasping for air. Retreating to a quiet place is what our soul needs to restore balance and peace once again.