My Happy Place


We all have that special place we go to in our minds when things get really tough. This particular beach is my favorite happy place. I have spent many hours on this beach, listening to the rhythm of the waves, feeling the wind on my face, and tasting the salt on my lips; but the one time it saved me was when I was five thousand miles away. I was sick...really sick, and I had to have an MRI. For many people, getting an MRI is a frightening experience. I'm typically not that affected by it, but on this particular occasion, owing to my weakened condition and the uncertainty of my illness, I was having a hard time. It wasn't the closed-in space that got me but the pounding noise. I felt a surge of panic, and for the first time, could understand how people could lose it in that situation. This was when I closed my eyes and went to my happy place. I imagined myself walking along my beach to the large rock nestled in the cove--felt my feet squishing in the porous sand, saw the waves crashing in successions upon the shore. It was the gentle rhythm of that magical place that saved me that day.

Now I have come back to my happy place--for real, and it's just as magical and soothing as I remembered it to be. It's comforting to know that wherever I go, regardless of how much time passes, my happy place will always be my refuge--my saving grace.