After addressing two terrific audiences in Orlando last week, we headed down to Melbourne Beach for a couple of days with family.  Since the hurricanes of last year, hotel space is at a premium; little Tuckaway Shores provided not only cozy oceanfront accomodation but also some much-needed personal inspiration.

As luck would have it, it’s nesting season for sea turtles along the Space Coast.  Each year, mature turtles travel thousands of miles to the place of their birth, lay their eggs onshore and then leave without ever seeing their hatchlings.  To say that the odds are against the eggs and babies is an understatement; only 1 in every 1000 eggs survives.

Sunday morning I was on the beach for a sunrise walk when I spied two teenage girls waving madly at me and pointing downward.  As I approached them I spotted one, lone, hatchling struggling across the sand toward the water.  The girls had already bestowed the name Forrest upon him and as he sand-paddled his way toward the surf, the girls were cheering him on.  "Swim, Forrest, swim!" they would chant as the tide would catch him and toss him back on shore.  Again and again, he would pick himself up and keep working toward the moment he would have enough water under his belly to ride the surf back out.  What a moment of triumph it was when little Forrest disappeared into the froth of an outgoing wave.  Will he make it to maturity?  He is still prey to many underwater forces, but he’s beaten the odds so far.

Monday morning beheld an even bigger surprise when I discovered that no fewer than nine sea turtles had come ashore overnight, dragging their massive bodies across the beach to dig a huge hole, lay their eggs, and return to the sea.  I couldn’t help but be awestruck at the symbolism of faith, hope, and possibility on this earth.

It’s so easy to get caught up in the day-to-day circus we call life and lose sight of the possibilities that await us each day just by getting out of bed.  I am reminded of the saying penned by Mary Anne Radmacher,

"In the quiet of this day, may you know the greatness of your spirit and may your hopes fly on the wings of possibility."

Greatness of spirit and the slow-but-steady awareness of each thing you do – the odds may be against you, but you’ll win the race more often than not.

Swim, Forrest, swim…