A little while ago, I posted an article about how you need to take the time and enjoy the little things in life. Well, I would like to talk a little bit more about one of the things I mentioned, which is the beach.

I am very blessed to say that I go to school on the beach. A lot of people cannot say that and a lot of people do not even live near the beach when they are at home and not at college! When I am home, the closest beach to me is 25 minutes away, and I do not always have the time or gas to drive there. But once I got on campus I found that I was at the beach almost every day, or at least every sunny day.

I go to the beach to find peace. Especially when my life is busy and chaotic I need to find time to just be with myself and reflect on my week or day. When I hear the water crash against the shore it literally is music to my ears. Sometimes when I'm laying in my bed in my dorm room at night, if I listen hard enough and it is just quiet enough I can hear the waves.

The reason the beach has such an effect on me is because I grew up on the water. When I was about five or six my dad bought a boat on Lake Winnipesaukee, my absolute favorite lake of all time. My dad would drive my sister and I an hour every weekend just so we could spend time up there. I would go sit on the beach and watch the sunset turn into a sky of stars. I swear, that place was the best place to star gaze.

Once I got older, making up to the lake every weekend got harder. So we decided to move to a place where we could live permanently and still do what we love. So my sister, dad and I moved to a place where our back yard was the Cocheco River, which connects right to the ocean.

We bought a new and smaller boat to fit on this beautiful yet narrow right. The boat is parked on the river next to a dock and the dock is private for only the people who live in the neighborhood. So there is hardly anyone there ever. So most nights in the summer I spend my nights out on the dock.

Here on the dock, I can do the same thing I would do at lake Winniepasakee and here now at college: sit and watch the sunset turn into a sky of sparkling stars. I sit there and reflect on my day or week. I don't know why I am so attracted to the water, maybe because the ocean is so mysterious, either way, it just gives me this peace.

Everyone should have a place they can go and reflect on their life. A place where you can go when things get too much. I hope that sharing my place will help you find yours.