Finding the Positive

With a New Year comes resolutions. I'm not one for resolutions but this year I decided to incorporate "Finding the Positive" & beauty in all situations, even if a situation makes me want to punch someone in the throat.  This one is tough for me, but a good one to incorporate in my day to day and also to be an example for my boys. 

We love going to the beach. Going to the beach means sitting in a chair, looking out to the ocean and taking in the salty air UNLESS it's winter, in which case you don't sit, it's too cold. Even so, we just trade out our swimming suits for coats and take a hike on the seashore.

But then, there's litter; I despise litter. On our hike I find myself scanning the sand.  I search not only for trash but for broken glass.  I am consumed with thoughts of children running and playing barefoot on these beaches, including Everett and Emory. I am bothered there is visible and hidden glass in the sand and little feet will need stitches and tetanus shots, if it is not collected. So i scan and look for glass. On our hikes we usually find 15-30 shards of glass and with each rising tide more becomes exposed, enough to keep me busy on our next hike.

Today on our hike we found approximately 20 pieces of glass and 1 treasure. I found sea glass! I wonder how long this piece of glass has been tumbling by the ocean's tidal movements and waves? According to Wikipedia sea glass usually takes 20-30 years to form. I've seen sea glass before, but never have I found any myself.  The glass' edge is smooth and the surface is a frosted. I just might  turn this in to a beautiful piece of jewelry.  

About sea glass: Sea glass begins as normal shards of broken glass that are then persistently tumbled and ground until the sharp edges are smoothed and rounded. In this process, the glass loses its slick surface but gains a frosted appearance over many years.

Naturally produced sea glass ("genuine sea glass") originates as pieces of glass from broken bottles, broken tableware, or even shipwrecks, which are rolled and tumbled in the ocean for years until all of their edges are rounded off, and the slickness of the glass has been worn to a frosted appearance.glass tumbled and carried by the ocean's tidal movements, waves and wind is sculpted smooth and beautiful.

Having to pick up broken glass makes me sad because it means someone was irresponsible and lazy about picking up after themselves (and yes it makes me want to punch them in the throat) but finding the positive means looking beyond all the broken glass and seeing the beauty like the sea glass and more importantly that Everett and Emory are learning the importance of taking care and respecting our beaches because all that we do has an impact on our ecosystem. Today I found beauty and I'm positive about that.