The Bench by the Lake

I was not planning to stop at the park that afternoon. My head was still full of unanswered emails half finished tasks and the kind of restless energy that comes from too many cups of coffee and not enough sleep The deadlines looming over me felt like an invisible weight pressing down harder with every passing minute. I kept walking my mind racing thinking about what I needed to do next what meetings awaited and how I would ever find the time to catch a breath.

But then the air changed The cool breeze brushed past my face carrying with it the subtle scent of autumn leaves The trees around me had started their yearly transformation their leaves turning a warm shade of gold and orange fluttering gently to the ground like tiny flames of color. Somehow despite my racing thoughts, my feet slowed down They seemed to take me somewhere else somewhere quieter as if they had a mind of their own.

That is when I saw him an older man sitting alone on a bench by the lake He was scattering crumbs into the water. A few ducks paddled toward him gliding effortlessly on the surface, their feathers shining softly under the mellow sunlight. The scene was peaceful almost untouched by the chaos swirling in my mind.

Mind if I sit? I asked approaching him hesitantly.

He smiled a gentle knowing smile and shifted slightly to make space beside him We sat in silence for a moment watching the ducks bob up and down on the shimmering water Then he said almost to himself Funny thing about ducks. They look calm on top but underneath, they are paddling like crazy

I smiled understanding exactly what he meant

I know the feeling I replied

Most people do he said We all try to look calm while working ourselves to exhaustion beneath the surface

Something about the way he said that made me admit even to myself how I had been feeling lately No matter how hard I worked it never felt like enough There was always more to do more to fix more to chase.

He nodded not in sympathy but in understanding. My father once told me there are only three things in life you can control: how honest you are how kind you are and how hard you try Everything else? That is just the weather

I raised an eyebrow intrigued The weather?

He chuckled softly You can not stop it from raining, but you can carry an umbrella You can’t control the wind but you can adjust your sails. Most people spend their lives trying to change the weather instead of learning how to navigate it.

His words sank deep into me. I stayed silent for a while, realizing just how much of my life had been spent trying to control things far beyond my reach deadlines opinions outcomes even the moods of others.

Eventually he shared a story about losing his wife five years ago I nearly let the grief take me under he said quietly Then I realized she wouldn’t want me counting what I lost She’d want me counting what I still have

The vulnerability in his voice touched me Life had thrown him a heavy blow, but he had found a way to hold on to find peace in what remained rather than sorrow in what was gone

We sat there until the sky turned a soft shade of pink and the ducks drifted away to their nests When he finally stood he said Life is short but it is wide There is more space to live than you think if you stop trying to hold back the tide

I never saw him again

But every time I feel myself getting pulled under by stress I picture that bench by the lake. The calm water The ducks paddling hard beneath the surface And I remember the weather will do what it does My job is to keep my boat steady

That moment taught me that peace is not about controlling everything around us. It is about embracing the flow adjusting when necessary and trusting that we have the strength to keep going no matter the storm It is about finding stillness amidst the chaos and knowing when to paddle and when to simply float

Since then whenever life feels overwhelming I go back to that simple image the man on the bench the ducks on the water the endless sky stretching above us both. And I remind myself sometimes it is okay to just sit breathe and let the world be.