Building Sandcastles on the Shore

This is the 6th lesson in the “Weathering a Storm” series. Since ancient times and in various cultures the warning has been echoed about the perils of “Build Sandcastles on the Shore.”

In the previous lessons, we have heard the advice that having false expectations of life leads to tremendous unhappiness and that we need to be more focused on how we deal with adversity (which is inevitable in material life) rather than trying to pretend/wish that ‘bad’ things won’t come our way.

A huge part of this strategy for living a good life is to build on truth. Creating a ‘make-believe’ life, hoping it will last forever, when it actually won’t, is unproductive and will lead to unhappiness.

The previous lessons all provided answers or parts of the answer to living in truth:

  1. This too shall pass
  2. The serenity prayer – acceptance of the unchangeable, courage to change what is within our power and wisdom to know the difference.
  3. Do not become a victim of emotions and fears. Learn to hit pause, calm down, evaluate – “how can/should I deal with this situation or person?” Before I speak or act, consider what outcome I desire and then speak and act in a way to produce that outcome. Emotionally driven responses, choices and actions never produce good outcomes.
  4. Our choices determine our experience of life. Make good choices that produce great (or at a minimum, acceptable) outcome.
  5. You are an eternal spiritual being residing in a temporary material body in a temporary and changing world. Unrealistic expectations of life destroy inner peace and lead to anxiousness.
  6. Building sandcastles on the shore is not a viable strategy to live a good and happy life.