Last Saturday I took my 2 ½ year old son to the beach. I tried to pare down my load as much as possible because it was a long walk from the car to the beach. I only had:

• My beach chair
• My son’s beach chair
• A cooler with lunch and snacks in it
• Beach toys (bucket, shovel, diggers, etc.)
• Beach bag with towels and sunscreen

We started walking. Pretty soon the sand was deep and my son asked me to pick him up. I told him I had too much stuff to carry, that he needed to walk.

“Okay,” he said, and sat down in the sand. He took off his crocs and dumped the sand out of them. I waited, my load feeling heavier and heavier with every moment.

“Come on, Joe!” I said.

He stood up and started walking, leaving the shoes behind.

“Joe, can you carry your shoes?” I asked.

He turned around and went back for the crocs. He walked a little way and then sat down again. He started pretending his shoes were cars and “vroomed” them through the sand.

This is going to take forever, I thought, starting to get really frustrated. Then I thought, Wait a minute! What did I think was going to happen? Usually when my husband and I come to the beach with my son, I carry less stuff because I end up picking up my son. I tried to bring less with me, because I knew this was going to happen and I didn’t want to start the day off by getting frustrated. I made a mental note to condense my load even further next time.

Taking a deep breath, I told myself it was going to take as long as it was going to take, and we were going to enjoy it. I put the cooler down and waited for my son for a minute or two, then I asked him to walk with me again.

“Can you pick me up?” he asked.

“Sure,” I said. I walked a few feet further, dropped most of the stuff, then went back for him. I carried him past the stuff, then put him down where he could see the boats on the water. He vroomed while I went back for the stuff. We repeated this until we got to our favorite spot on the beach. I took my time and enjoyed the breeze and the sun sparkling off the water. I didn’t try to carry all the stuff and my son, so I wasn’t overburdened. Our great beach day started even before we got to the beach. It started when I decided to accept reality.

Byron Katie, the author of Loving What Is, says, “When we argue with reality, we lose–but only 100% of the time.”

I’d like to add that when we accept reality, we win—but only 100% of the time.

Where in your life are you arguing with reality?