Life can't get any better than this, a sunny day on a secluded beach.
You have a book in your hands, a fiction you've bought a long time ago but conveniently 'haven't had the time' to read.
You have cold drinks, and a beach tent that hasn't been exposed to the sun for the last six months.
You see your wife sitting next to you, reading peacefully, smiling as she turns the pages, looking so radiant in her bright yellow blouse.
You see your daughter crying excitedly every time she finds a strange-looking shell, putting them all into a cup like lost treasures.
And she asks you to go on long walks with her, both of you waddling through the knee-deep water, warm sand under your feet
And she tells you how growing up she wants to be an artist
And she tells you how you get rid of your negative emotions, all your fears and worries, your hurts and anxiety, by pulling them all out from wherever you feel them, and give them a good toss far into the ocean ahead
And how Steve Irwin's image pops up in your head when he talks about his daughter, how an ugly man like him could bring into the world such a beautiful human like her
Then I'll tell you, life couldn't get any better than this.
Because life is at its best when you're alive, isn't it?
When you're just not surviving each day, fearing what might come tomorrow when you wake up.
When you feel the sun burning on the back of your neck, along your arms, your legs, and your feet buried deep in the sand.
When the winds carried through all the oceans in the world come find you, and right then not even the hottest sun could help you from feeling the chill, goosebumps and all.
When your temples are not aching
When your heart does not beat too fast
When you have no wants nor needs, no timetable to stick to, no emails to answer, no meetings to attend, no bills, no rent
For that moment, it's just you and the ocean, and you feel as much alive as it is