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Last Sunday, I found myself on a beach in Venice, Florida, looking for something I never thought I’d be looking for.
As I walked along the shore, I noticed something unusual.
People everywhere were carrying strange-looking baskets, scooping through the sand, bending over, examining tiny things in their hands.
They were looking for shark teeth – millions-of-years-old shark teeth, to be exact.
I’d heard that some of the beaches in this part of Florida were famous for them, but I’d never actually found one.
I was fascinated. And suddenly, I wanted to find one of my own.
So I started walking along the beach, searching among tiny shells, sea-worn pebbles, and fragments of coral, with the gentlest turquoise water shimmering beside me.
I looked and looked.
Nothing.
Everything looked like sand, shells, and little pieces of stone.
Then I spotted a woman sitting by herself near the shoreline, her hands gently combing through the sand. She looked so peaceful in the sunlight, wearing a big beach hat and bathing suit, with a basket and a few little bags beside her.
I walked over and asked her what her secret was to finding all those shark teeth.
She looked up, smiled, and said one word:
“Perseverance.”
I loved her answer. And her smile. So I sat down beside her, hoping I wasn’t violating some unwritten shark-tooth-hunting etiquette.
Her name was Dee, and she began showing me how she searched, sharing the tricks of the trade with infectious enthusiasm.
Clearly, I hadn’t violated any sacred shark-tooth-collecting protocol. At least not with her. In fact, she seemed delighted to have a new student.
My impromptu lesson began right there in the sand.
Dee taught me which shapes to look for, where the teeth tended to collect, how to recognize their textures, and how mineralization could affect their colors.
She told me about her guidebook at home, which helped her identify the different marine fossils she discovered. Sometimes it was a shark tooth. Sometimes a barracuda tooth, a ray’s dental plate, or something else entirely.
It was so much fun.
Just two women over fifty, on a Sunday morning, in our bathing suits, digging in the sand along Florida’s Gulf Coast like little girls on a treasure hunt.
And then, in the midst of the play, armed with everything Dee had taught me, it happened.
I found one. And another. And another..
Before long, I had a whole little collection of ancient shark teeth in my hand. Dee even ran off to fetch me a little bag for my newfound treasures.
I couldn’t believe how many had been right there all along.
I just hadn’t known how to see them.
Dee told me she came to the beach regularly and that searching for shark teeth was one of her forms of meditation.
What I loved most was the way she approached the search.
She wasn’t frustrated when she didn’t find anything. She simply played in the sand, put her hands in the water, and trusted that with patience, practice, and perseverance, she’d discover what she was looking for.
It got me thinking about how differently we sometimes approach the things we’re searching for in our own lives.
Love. Connection. A new beginning. A sense of belonging. A different kind of future.
Sometimes we search so hard that everything begins to blur together. We see other people finding what they want and wonder whether we’ll ever find it ourselves.
We lose the joy of the search.
We become discouraged.
Sometimes we stop looking altogether.
And I’ve come to believe that sometimes what makes all the difference is having someone willing to sit beside us in the sand.
Someone like Dee, who helps us recognize what we’ve been overlooking. Someone who knows a little about the terrain, offers a few useful tools, asks good questions, and reminds us that the search itself can be part of the adventure.
When we’re searching for love, finding our person can feel a little like a treasure hunt.
But it’s not about picking up every shiny thing on the beach.
It’s about knowing what we’re looking for, recognizing what we have to offer, and discovering what we’re happy to leave on the shore.
That’s part of why I created Inspired Profile Writing — a heart-centered coaching experience to help you create a dating profile that feels true, magnetic, and aligned with the love you’re calling into your life.
And it’s something I love about coaching in general. I don’t have a magic basket full of answers. But I do love sitting beside someone as they begin to see possibilities that were difficult to recognize on their own. And the results that begin to emerge as a result of new insights and actions aligned with their dreams.
Sometimes the treasures are already there, waiting.
A little patience, some perseverance, and the kindness of someone willing to share what they know can help us discover what we might otherwise overlook.
And sometimes, we might even remember how much fun it can be to look.
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