Have you ever built up a sandcastle on a beach,
Mixed in your ideas, dreams and fantasies into that structure,
Kneaded into it all the hard work you could muster as a six year old,
Just to have it get washed away with the angry waves that crash upon the shore?

And you walk away feeling defeated,
Tasting bitterness and disappointment in your mouth for the first time.

If I could, I'd go back in time and tell the six year old me not to hold onto that disappointment but to let it go,
Let it wash away with the waves that brought the disappointment.
Because life, life knocks you down just when you figure out how to stand up on your own two feet.
It throws questions and heartache and disappointment at you,
But you, you've got to learn from those waves,
You've gotta throw out the pain in your life so you can make room for all the great stuff that makes you glad to be alive.

I'd tell the six year old me how to walk with her palms open and not balled up in fists because,
As my basketball coach told me,
The best offense is a good defense.

While life is figuring out how to throw you the next curve ball,
You can walk with your palms open,
With your heart light,
Knowing that no matter what,
You learnt from the waves,
And you'll always come out the other side stronger, wiser,
And more resilient.