To Be a Lifeguard
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Four and a half years ago I started working as a beach lifeguard in Morro Bay, California, and I never would have guessed how rewarding it would turn out to be. My entire life I had been raised in and out of the ocean, so whether it was swimming, surfing, or body boarding, most of my childhood memories were set on the coast. As my father had been a lifeguard for 14 years, becoming a lifeguard only seemed natural, and my teenage ego thrived in it. Although I was the first person responsible for the lives of people from outside the surf-zone to the parking lot, the 8 hour days felt like nothing close to work. I was a very proficient swimmer from training on the high school swim and water polo teams, so I had a confidence that I could get anyone out of the water quickly. Most of my days were spent talking to beach patrons, and warning them about rip currents, which was easy because my dad had been doing it to me my whole life. After a couple years of lifeguarding, both in Morro Bay and sometimes in Santa Barbara, I soon discovered the true value of those long hours at the beach. Being stuck in a tower from morning to sunset leads your mind to wander like nothing else, which at first just felt like a natural side effect of boredom. Eventually my perspective began to change and I started to appreciate everything I would see around me with a passion unlike anything I had ever experienced. Being able to watch whales and dolphins breaching out of the water, see thousands of birds swarm and catch fish, and wonder at the lives of so many people connect in this setting made me feel truly grateful; especially since I was being paid. I would wake up every morning knowing that after work, I would come home inspired and full of ideas, with a refreshed love for the world. It sort of became a form of meditation, and I found it having profound benefits in other parts of my life. I would take my appreciation everywhere I went, and became less and less upset about simple inconveniences. This domino effect led me to a live a life full of wonder and readiness for any challenges I would face. The great lesson I learned from this, I would say, is to live in the Present, for most, if not all our struggles are rooted in our worries about the future and our regrets about the past. I hope that anyone that reads this goes out and takes time out of their day, if you didn’t already, and simply be, because I know not everyone gets paid to work at the beach everyday, most are stuck trying to make several coffees at once, or are sending out hundreds of emails. With hope, maybe one day there will be a whole holiday dedicated to simply being and appreciating all the bits of our world, for Love and Happiness is in the Now.
