Shift Your Thinking

On two occasions at a beach (one in Texas and one in California), I have told someone (a friend once and my granddaughter the second time) that I would find them a sand dollar. In both instances, I had no reason to make this claim. I had not seen another sand dollar on either beach. I was just being my "psychic" self. In both instances my prediction was realized.

On the first occasion, it took hours (probably most of the afternoon) to find one. I searched and searched; walked up and down the shoreline; looked closely at the the waves rolling in through the shore sand and not once did I see a sand dollar. I did not give and believed that I would find one. The normal person would have given up a brief time into the search. I persevered; however, I could never have attained my goal (my promise) had I not shifted my thinking.

Sometimes, in order to solve a puzzle, break a code or overcome a challenge, we have to step back and recognize that there is more to the situation than I have experienced or understood. There is another view; another approach; another solution, or another way to attain my goal (or to overcome failure).

It was in late afternoon of my search (after so many hours) that I realized that, perhaps, I had been looking in the wrong place. There were no sand dollars on the sand and none that I could see floating in the lingering wave flow at the shore. I needed to enter the water and not walk along the shore. I needed to walk into the waves and hope for a chance discovery. As I did this, guess what? I walked onto a sand bar about sixty feet out from shore. I was waist deep at the time. All of a sudden, I was standing ankle deep in water, on a large island of sand.

Of course, you can guess the rest of the story. There in low water, far from the shore, was my sand dollar. I could not believe it. I picked it up, held it warmly in my hand and headed back to shore. I was excited and proud to share this sand dollar with my friend. Yes, it blew her away and was a gift from the sea that still exists today some thirty years later. It sits on the wall of my office in a beautiful frame. You see, my friend returned it to me for my birthday several years later. It will always be a reminder to never give up, persevere and to believe in miracles. In order to find the sand dollar, I had to SHIFT MY THINKING. In so doing, you will discover the amazing, the unbelievable, the unexpected and break the code that so often keeps us from opening the door of discovery.  

Amazing! Not really...