Sharks

A guy was surfing yesterday and decided to do a jump and came down on a 6 foot shark.  I guess it pissed off the shark and he bit the surfer in the hand and leg.  Could have been worse.  It was in Daytona Beach Florida.  I was reading the story and it occurred to me that people who swim or play in the ocean are risking those kinds of encounters every day.  They choose to do this, knowing that there are dangers in the water.  People actually do dangerous things every day. 

Each time I get into my car to drive I'm out there in "shark infested" waters that are potentially life threatening.  I don't think there's any way to minimize the danger, because if something bad is going to happen to you, it's going to happen even if you stay home.  So there it is.  Chance.  Fate.  Why stay home if you're in just as much danger of carbon monoxide poisoning in your own home as you are on Daytona Beach surfing? 

Is life really a card game?  It is. Do we sit at that green felt table and sweat bullets as the cards are drawn?  Or do we choose to lean back and smile, watching the cards come up however they are dealt?  THAT is the choice.  I've been living somewhere in-between those two attitudes, but I've felt a shift lately to the smiling side.

  

I used to play that board game called "Life" with my family when I was young.  Every now and then we'd play a board game together and it was always so fun to make these life decisions that either took you to college or a blue collar job. You could choose to have a family, get married, have kids or be a professional while trying to juggle it all.  I think I can pretty much thank Milton Bradley for my desire to go to college.  I learned through that game, college was the way to go that set you up with the best options for success.  At least it was when I was a teenager.  Learning is always a good idea.  When you're 14 you don't know that. School seems like this endless chore that saps the fun out of every day, Monday through Friday.  I would live for the weekends when I could have some fun.  Sleep in a little.  Play.

Isn't that what we still do?  But Fate, or chance, or whatever it is that dictates our daily moods or who we become, is still lurking as a choice on a board game.  I can pretty much assume that most people are a lot like me, in that we all hold our breath a little at times.  I want to have faith that everything will be ok and work out for the best.  Where that positive philosophy comes from, I don't know, but I'm grateful for it.  It helps me lean back and smile when the cards are being dealt.  Watch the dealer with fascination.  It helps me to know that ultimately when the card game is over, I'll be able to look back on all that happened to me in this life, and feel good about my choices.  

Even though my entire generation was traumatized by the movie Jaws, I'll still swim in the ocean knowing there are sharks, choose to learn when the choices are still mine, and enjoy going places in my car even though it's entirely possible I'll never get to where I'm going.  It's okay.  I know the danger, and I'm still smiling.

Could that be why Taryn's favorite tank at the Denver Aquarium was the shark tank?  Why she stood there watching them silent and majestic, swimming and gliding past everyone, without even seeming to care at all that most people were afraid of them?  Taryn wasn't afraid of them.  I once watched her reach out and touch the glass as one of them went slowly past her.  She wanted to touch it.  Taryn, taught me every moment she was alive, not to be afraid.  She taught me to smile and know that life was a card game, that you sometimes could do very little about.  I'm grateful to her for teaching me that and for so much more.

Taryn, can you swim with the sharks now?  I bet you can.