The Sandcastle
A little story post about achievements
It was a glorious day and two children, a brother and a sister, decided to make a sandcastle.
Not just any sandcastle, but the most spectacular sandcastle they had ever made.
Instead of paddling, looking for crabs or any of the other fun things they could do at the seaside, they devoted all afternoon to crafting it.
They sculpted a large mound with their hands, moistening it with sea water.
They dug out a moat around it.
They used different buckets so the structure had turrets and towers.
They adorned it with beautiful shells. Cockle shells, scallops and blue razor ones.
They used their deft fingers to etch out an entrance and windows.
They placed tiny pebbles along the edge to mark out the boundaries of the castle walls.
They topped it with colourful flags.
They learned about co-operation.
They discovered what happened when the sand was too dry or too sloppy.
They learned what happened when you placed too many stones on top or tried to make a tower too tall.
And then….
They stood back marvelling at their achievement, so proud of what they had made, working together to create something so fantastic.
Until…..
The tide came in mercilessly and took it all away in a couple of crashes.
Their wonderful structure, admired by all on the beach, destroyed in seconds.
The little girl had tears streaming down her cheeks.
The little boy bit his lip.
How could it be that all they had worked for could be demolished so quickly, so brutally?
Distraught, the two children looked to their mother.
“But mum…”
Began the little girl.
“Our castle is gone! Our fabulous castle! We worked so hard on that….”
“Did you enjoy making it?”
She asked them both
They nodded.
“Is there more sand on the beach?”
She asked.
They nodded.
“And do you have tomorrow?”
They nodded.
“There will be many things you build in life and many tides that smash them.
Build playfully, enjoy the process, the things you learn along the way. Savour each amazing achievement, but know it can be taken away in an instant.
And always, always remember, that there is an infinite amount of sand on the beach and as long as you are still alive, you still have time to make many more wonderful things”
I wrote this because I hear of so many people losing things (businesses, relationships etc) and then saying what a waste of time it all was. It can seem that way when you are very invested.
But if it was time spent learning or enjoying something then how is it ever time wasted?
And if you weren’t learning or enjoying what you were doing, then why were you doing it in the first place?
Beautiful! The sentiment behind it really resonated with me but what I want to do now is go and build a sandcastle. Although I'm about as far from the beach as anyone could get in the UK.