The phrase “Kissing the Wave” comes from a quote by the nineteenth-century British preacher Charles Spurgeon: “I have learned to kiss the wave that throws me against the Rock of Ages.” To “KISS THE WAVE THAT THROWS YOU AGAINST THE ROCK” means to release your resentment, anger, and despair and turn around and embrace your difficulties, to use them to learn, to grow, to become wiser and stronger. This does NOT mean living in denial; feelings buried alive never die. To move past your pain, to surmount your challenges, you must first face them. Ignoring, denying, or hiding are very rarely good coping strategies (life is both complex and subtle; two words I use cautiously are “never” or “always”).
There is a lot to be said for “rolling with the punch”, for making stepping-stones out of stumbling blocks, for taking the bricks life throws at us and building a solid foundation for new beginnings. As the old truism goes, life turns out best for those who make the best of how things turn out.
Closing Quotes:
“Adversity has the effect of eliciting talents, which in prosperous circumstances would have lain dormant.” – Horace, 65-8 BC
“Every adversity, every failure, and every heartache, carries with it the Seed of an equivalent or greater Benefit.” – Napoleon Hill, 1883-1970
“When you come out of the storm, you won’t be the same person who walked in. That’s what this storm’s all about.” – Haruki Murakami, b. 1949
“Life is thickly sown with thorns. I know no other remedy than to pass rapidly over them. The longer we dwell on our misfortunes the greater is their power to harm us.” – Voltaire, 1694-1788
As always, I share what I most want and need to learn. – Nathan S. Collier