captured the same landscapes .
" Oh yes , I ’ ve been there too , beautiful isn ’ t it ?", you will hear them say . The difference will be apparent only to me . That difference … the knowledge of experience . I have spent three days immersed in this environment . Living in its vastness , I have not just walked its contours , I have touched its beauty , swam in its waters , slept under its stars and breathed its changing moods . I have felt elation and exhaustion , pleasure and pain , triumph and defeat . I have summited peaks and tumbled down valleys . I have greeted new parts of me , discovering how I deal ( and don ’ t deal ) with challenge , how to listen to the rhythms of my body , when to say ' yes ' and when I need to say ' no ' and how to quiet my chattering mind when it launches a silent assault of doubt upon me .
And the tourists on the boat … what remains of their time spent here ?
A picture . A distant memory of another nice landscape viewed from afar , a holiday they once had .
For me , the woman on the beach , the wisdom of my experience will remain permanently etched on my being . Its lessons and learnings imprinted on my being like part of my DNA that will continue to reveal their meaning as they guide me into each new day and each new experience , a more alive , aware and resilient human than before . SM
NEWS MAGAZINE
77
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