by Bethany

I was a freshman at the Naval Academy (they called us plebes – and wow did I feel like one). I was at the end of a hallway screaming “Time, tide, and formation wait for no man. You have five minutes, sir!” I completed my chow call and was running to my room before any upperclassmen could start asking me questions that I did not know. As plebes, it was our job to do these chow calls to alert the rest of the company that formation was about to begin. At the time, the last sentence in the chow call always meant to me – hurry up! Things are about to begin without you! Now, as I look back, I see it differently. Yes, I think it was a way to tell everyone to speed up and get to formation on time, but they used time and tide to metaphorically say “This is your chance. These things will go on and on with or without you.” (Did anyone else sing that last part?)

In life, there are many times where we are sitting things out. We are waiting for the exact right moment to jump into the action. Or we are being tossed upon the waves thinking that it will never end. But you see time goes on and on, and the tide will come and go no matter what. We don’t always get a chow call to tell us “In five minutes it’s the right time to go all in or in five minutes you will find joy again!” There is not a perfect time to start that next thing… there is not a perfect time to jump in or climb out because hardship will come and so will happiness. We have to look within ourselves and feel the pattern of our own life and do the hard work of figuring out what that means for each of us. Time and Tide Counseling is a place where you can find that pattern and those goals and then gain the confidence to grab the life raft, dip your foot in the water, or cannonball right in.