I love the beach. Childhood memories come flooding back, endless hot summers (amazing, they always seemed hot back then and they seemed to last so long), playing away, building sandcastles, dams across little rivers, skimming stones, searching for crabs, swimming, laughing, having fun. I love the sound of children playing on the beach. It’s somehow restful.

But I can also imagine the beach and somehow generate much of that same atmosphere internally. It’s that amazing power of our human imagination.

So, would you be willing to journey with me for a moment? Close your eyes (after you’ve read this). Breathe in slowly and out more slowly.

Imagine you’re standing on a lovely beach, warm sunlight dancing on the glimmering sea, that whooshing sound of waves ebbing and flowing across the sand. Your footmarks have left their imprint in the moist sand. It’s the journey already travelled as you look back at where you came from. But now there’s a choice. Where does the next step go? What direction will it be in? Who will walk along with you? Will it be a continuation of the same or will it be a new choice?

At first, a little adjustment seems like almost nothing. But continue the line of the new direction out across the vastness of the beach and see how far the lines are apart after 100 steps, and then 1000 steps. Can you decide where that next step goes?