She sells sea shells

Today I was thinking, have you ever held a sea shell up to your ear to see if it really did sound like the ocean? I've done it, since the days of my youth I've combed the beach for conch shells that can hold the ocean in your ear. I take them home, and when I'm feeling discouraged, or lonely, or lost, I hold it up to my ear and know that I have a home far away from here on peaceful shores. We all listen to the shell for different reasons. For some people it's an escape, a way to hide from everything that's around us and BE at the ocean dipping our feet in the waves and collecting shells much like the one held up to your ear. Some people do it to remember, to remember what it was like to be on a beach with their friends and family and smell the sand and the ocean waves. For other people it's a dream, an ambition to go to those shores and get away from everyone and everything they know. Whatever your reason, I hope it brings you happiness. There's so much in this world unexplored, so much left a mystery. We all have things that remind us, things that help us get through the days and nights. Sometimes we hold them so close that we almost hurt ourselves just to get as close to our dreams as possible. We can't be on those shores, not yet. There's a reason we are where we are and a purpose to what we are doing. So much of what we do affects those around us. There are places that I miss, and I will probably miss them for a very long time, perhaps even forever, but I will always have those memories, those shells letting me know that there was once a place that I looked out on, and saw nothing but possibilities and aspirations. We will never know the confines of our own cage until we've seen our walls from the outside, but we decide whether the cage is to keep us in, or keep pain out. Find the things that bring you joy, the people that make you smile, don't distort your relationships because they are hard to get back. Do what makes you happy and give all your love and patience to those you care about. The things in life worth keeping are the ones worth fighting for, never give up if you've found what makes you happy. And strangely enough, the things you thought you've lost and forgotten have a peculiar way of coming back. The waves go out, and they come back in, you can't force them to stay, but you can wait until they come back to you. And This is my ripple philosophy in a tea cup.