Floating On The Water

“You laugh it off, you get upset for a little while, you're human and you let it go.” - Jennifer Lopez

A few years ago my wife and I took an extended early September vacation. It was a great time looking back with family, friends and just chillingout for a few days. We made a visit up to Helen, Georgia just before the start of a very long Oktoberfest celebration they have stretching from mid-September to the start of November.

As we sat in our chairs of a local drinking establishment having a beer and some wings, we noticed small clear bags of water hanging along the edge of the patio walls. This was an open air restaurant next to the Chattahoochee River, down which people float on large round tubes. One might have mistaken these clear plastic bags as water balloons meant to toss at people floating by.

A patron near us had the same thought and decided to toss one.

Why he chose a pretty girl is left to his own reckoning but she ended up being one not to take this offense calmly. She returned, yelled and screamed her displeasure at him. She did get wet, but we thought again that she was in the water and getting wet already. I'm guessing it was the surprise of a water balloon which shocked her from the calm floating waters of the river.

The exchange was heated but the patron did apologize.

I'm not completely certain he was fully remorseful, but he did apologize. The young lady stood her ground, or more actually, her water (since she was standing in the shallows of the river). Standing there, I am not certain if she was waiting for something more or maybe a burly boyfriend to come floating down to save her honor.

It was at this point we decided to leave the maddening noise.

Before leaving we could hear the restaurant staff explaining that those were not water balloons to be thrown at people tubing down the river. In fact they are there to discourage flies from hanging around.

I am certainly glad we did not make the same mistake.

So where does this leave the story and what lesson can be learned? As I said, we did not stay to see the situation play out completely. There were too many stores to visit and too many interesting places to see in town.

What I do know, things are going to happen to us in life.

There are going to be moments in which your peaceful existence is going to get interrupted. A water balloon is going to crash down upon you in a surprising way when you least expect. Getting upset is likely your first response, anger is your second and retaliation might even enter your thought process.

Will you stand on the edge of the water allowing it to consume you? And while you do, the water keeps flowing past, life keeps flowing on. Let it go, pick up the pieces and get back on the tube. Get back into the flowing water of life and move on.

Stay inspired my friends!