Walking on the beach with your best friend

can help with a lot of things.

It gives you perspective on joy and pain. You know you have had them both, and you know they will both come again, but you also know they will pass. And you also know your friend will be there for both those things.

The repetitive motion of the waves and of one foot following the other stops the mind from spiraling out of control. Every time a wave comes in it seems to whisper, "Stop thinking. Everything is okay. The world will keep on going and the waves will keep on coming. Don't believe me? Here comes another one..."

Most importantly, it gives you hope. Hope that there is a light at the end of the tunnel, that the bad things will end and good things will begin. It gives you hope to start planning and looking to the future again. Enough to pull you up from where you've been, and hopefully enough to keep you going.