Life seems to be made of crests and troughs, and you have decided that crests are better. But it is the flow of life that is good. Life can only flow in motion; the surface of life cannot flow evenly or it would not be flow. Underneath the flow is a sturdy evenness but the surface of life goes up and it goes down. That is the nature of waves.

Waves are like inhaling and exhaling, that's all. In and out. Up and down. But the down is only the surgence of the up. The crest and the trough are not separate acts. They are like a graph of life. In any case, that is how the surface of life presents itself.

There is pregnancy, and then there is birth. But the whole process is birth. Birth does not occur of itself. Birth is the issuance of a wave that has been building. A wave has to furl before it can unfurl. One motion is not better than another. It just is what it is at the moment it is.

A meal is prepared. And then it is eaten.

Your mouth opens, and then it closes.

You get up in the morning and you lie down at night.

Night follows day. They take turns.

A flower opens and it closes.

Your eyes open, and they close.

All serves a purpose.

In and out are but one motion.

In your low's, look for the sustenance they contain.

You cannot always spend yourself. You cannot always exhale. You have to breathe in as well.

Do not be thrilled because you are in the swell of a wave nor downcast when it comes back down to the sea.

A lull in life allows you to collect your wits. It is okay to have some earth time in abatement.

Ride the upsweep of the waves but also ride the insweep. Lean back and let life be what it is. It does not have to be a thrill a minute.

When you climb a ladder, one foot has to rest beneath the other. One leg stays still and the other moves up. And that is how progress is made.

You spend a lot of energy in bewailing the troughs of life. Bewailing is resisting. Accept the hammocks that come to you and lie down in them for a while. More will enter your life soon enough. You cannot make it come faster, nor can you keep it away. Life does not necessarily do your bidding. You do its.

You can beckon life to you but what comes comes in the bidding of what you call time. Life is instant, but your claiming of it is not. You yearn to control the waves of your life. Let go of that control.

You do not have to be in the mainstream at every moment. It is okay to be downstream for a while. In any case, that is how life presents itself. It is all right to swim around for a while without going places.

When you climb a mountain, there are stopping-places. You cannot reach the top of the mountain without rest-stops on the way. Why do you think you can pursue life without cease, as if cease were a black mark against you?

Do you begin to see how you have been judging your life? Judgment makes you tired. You have judged your life and you have judged yourself, and you have found them wanting because of ideas you hold. Unhold those ideas. Let them go. Let your life be.

Know that your life has been good. Be satisfied with your climb. Do not beat yourself up because you did not climb faster. Beating yourself does not help your climb. You do not need always to urge yourself on. Urge yourself to appreciate where you are.