That moment when you go... "WOW!"
It was quiet. Very quiet, in fact. All I could hear was the bashing of waves against the surf boards and subtle squeals of hungry seagulls far away in North Bondi. The beach was scattered with surfers, joggers and an occasional sighting of a first date couple.
The sky looked like a modern-age oil painting, with hues of blue, white, orange and yellow, all overlapping one another. Almost like they were fighting for the perfect seat in the house so they could admire the deceptively calm ocean.
You see, I live about 20-minutes away from the worldly famous tourist-heaven known as Bondi Beach. For a local, this beach has its days of being stunningly annoying (weekends) and serenely spectacular (like on this particular Friday).
It wasn't a typical Friday evening for me; there certainly wasn't any alcohol or after-work hook ups involved, if that's how we describe 'typical' these days. After surviving two strenuous, painfully long and hectic working weeks, I decided to pull myself out of my workaholic's misery and walk to the beach. I had to shy away from the horror of facing the impending deadlines, unanswered emailed, ignored phone calls and a bazillion knots in my upper back.
After a 40-minute power walk, several squats and an attempt at single-hand push ups so as to acquaint myself with the ridiculously "fit and healthy" surroundings, I perched myself on a tiny sand-covered rock.Bondi Beach was emitting a powerful energy on this particular evening, the kind that I wasn't aware it was even capable of. Maybe this is what ocean and beaches do, it's possible indeed, but I had always underestimated this white sand beach. However, on this evening, I was left bedazzled with its beauty. The lack of tourists, children, loud families and even louder teenagers gave the beach a sense of maturity and positivity.
During all this, I had David Guetta and Nicki Minaj singing in my ears (what? I was exercising! Don't judge), so to get an aesthetic-approval, I turned my iPod off. And that's when it struck me.
That moment of realisation when you instantly hop to the present, and realise how happy and content you really are. In the past, that feeling has had a lifespan of a mini-micro-second, with a whirlwind of present day-worries usually bursting that bubble. But as I was sitting on that rock in Bondi, watching the colours of the sky change before me with every ticking second of dusk, that content feeling held me tight. It wasn't letting go, and from what I recall, it had no intentions to. To my shock, I embraced the feeling so desperately that beads of water kissed my cheeks in sheer happiness. Shocking, even for me!
If you know me well, you'd know I'm not usually the kind who'd get overly excited with the beauty of nature and weep like a baby on spotting a rainbow. But this was magical. There wasn't an internal bug feeding off my chain of thoughts: the pressure to amp up my career, my incapability to solve the mystery behind my non-existent love life and not even my eternally-upset bank account. I didn't give a rat's arse about anything. Not even a horse's arse - in case you're wondering.I just felt grateful for being able to walk 20-minutes away from my home-office and sit on a rock while watching a bulldog chase seagulls. I felt blessed for being able to feel the sensation of husky sand on my skin and not letting it worry me. I felt lucky to have the power with words, so I could describe this very feeling for you.I still get the urge to pack my bags and move to Paris or London for work, and I most certainly still want to buy a pair of Louboutin heels from a hypothetical-fat paycheck. But at that moment, the ocean was talking to me, and I thought it was rude to interrupt him with materialistic crap.Despite not being a spiritual person, I felt a powerful energy tingling down my spine. That could have been the chilly Autumn wind giving me goosebumps, but i'd like to believe it was the birth of a powerful energy inside me. It felt good. Great, in fact. So wonderful. Delightful. Potent. And addictive, in a way.Imagine living a life where you wake up feeling content and grateful towards everything that comes your way. I want that. I desperately want to feel as though I am lucky to be where I am, doing what I love and (sometimes) getting paid to do it. Not just one day a week, but every goddamn day.
There's nothing worse than having regrets in life, and because of which, I hereby pledge to dedicate Friday evenings to exercising on the beach, perving on hot surfer men, playing with fluffy puppies and feeling happy. Truly happy from the heart.Thank you, ocean. Thank you, Bondi.
Note: Because I didn't have my phone on me, I couldn't take a photo of the spectacular sunset. But the image below is about 96% close to what I witnessed on this somewhat magical evening of realisation. Thanks to the internet for the image.