Five minutes after the boat left the harbor, we found our first large pod of dolphins frolicking playfully at the ocean’s surface. As soon as the captain said it was safe, I climbed off the boat’s ladder with my snorkel, mask, and fins and splashed quickly in the dolphins’ direction. Well, the dolphins must have thought that I was chasing them, because they swam away from me.

I did manage to stay with them (it’s a process called Entrainment that magically occurs when you swim with dolphins), but I still had the feeling that they were evading me.

So, before my second dolphin swim, I prayed, meditated, and centered myself. I realized that swimming with dolphins was like a metaphor for anything desirable in life: if you chase after it, it will evade you. But if you approach it with open-armed joy, your dreams will rush to meet you.

This time, the dolphins circled and stayed right with me! And on every subsequent snorkel and scuba trip with the dolphins, they’ve escorted me through the water eye-to-eye.

In fact, this morning, I was scuba diving in Kona and heard the familiar click-and-whistle sound of the dolphins and within a minute, I was surrounded by a large beautiful pod – including mother and baby dolphins! My heart was so filled with joy and happiness to be with my underwater friends, and just as I’d learned many years ago – I didn’t chase the dolphins, but simply admired and appreciated their presence. Soon, we were doing somersaults and other fun underwater movements together.

The dolphins always remind me that every great desire comes to us upon the wings of joy. There’s no need to push or strive for anything. We can love all of our desires into existence.
The dolphins truly are the angels of the sea!