He hated his job. He and his wife, Meghan, were fighting constantly and finances were terrible.
Yet here they were at a beach rental they couldn’t afford for the weekend.
I can’t take this anymore he thought. Nothing is going right.
Meghan was still asleep when he got up. It was early. He put on some light weight clothes, his shoes and his Georgia Bulldogs baseball hat to cover his bed head. He walked to the beach just short of the where the morning waves were crashing against the beach.
He looked over the vast Gulf. It was water as far as his eyes could see.
What am I doing here? He thought to himself. I’m in so deep I don’t know how to dig out of all of this.
“It always seems like that doesn’t it?” said a voice that startled him.
Paul looked and saw an elderly man with a fishing jacket and battered baseball cap with a cross embroidered on it. Paul smiled politely but he wasn’t in a mood to talk to a stranger.
“I’m Oscar but my friends call me Oscar,” the man said with a laugh.
Paul laughed at the lame joke too.
“Well Oscar, are you from around here?” Paul asked.
“Oh I rambled around here and there,” Oscar answered.
“Were you reading my mind?” Paul asked jokingly but hoping he was just guessing.
Oscar looked out at the Gulf where Paul had been looking. He pointed in that direction.
“Usually when I see people staring out there, they are in some deep thoughts.”
“You could say that,” Paul answered.
“What answers are you looking for out there?” Oscar asked waving his hands out over the Gulf.
“That’s just it,” Paul said. “I don’t have any answers.”
They both looked out over the Gulf together. Neither spoke for several minutes.
“Everything is wrong,” Paul finally confessed. “My work, my marriage, my life. I don’t know how to fix any of it or how to make it better.” Paul was surprised that he was sharing his personal problems with a complete stranger yet he felt it was okay to do so.
“Do you cook?” Oscar asked him.
What an odd question Paul thought.
“Uh…yes. I cook sometimes,” Paul answered reluctantly.
“So when you are cooking and something doesn’t taste right what do you do about it?”
Paul thought for a moment.
“I usually have to add some salt or seasoning to it.”
Oscar smiled.
“There you go. That’s your answer,” Oscar smiled.
“Answer to what exactly?” Paul was puzzled.
“Answer to your problems. With problems in your life you need to do the small things to change it.”
Paul looked puzzled.
“Young man, when you are cooking and something doesn’t taste right, you don’t start over — well unless you totally screwed up the recipe. No…you tweak it. Add some seasoning. “
Oscar looked into Paul’s eyes.
“You are trying to look at this as a bigger task when you only need to start doing the smaller things to change it.”
Oscar continued to look at Paul.
He saw the lightbulb in his eyes illuminate.
He got it.
“I see what you mean. I need to stop looking at the big problem and focus on the small things that can change them.”
“Exactly!” Oscar said.
Oscar patted Paul on the shoulder.
“So how do you start adding the seasonings to your work, marriage and your life?”
Paul thought a moment.
“For my marriage, I could put more effort in doing things to show her I love her like a random card that isn’t for a special occasion.”
“There you go!” Oscar answered.
Paul continued.
“For my job, I could get more training on tasks that I am frustrated with and if that doesn’t work, I can look for another job.”
Oscar smiled.
“You see young man, the small things can affect the big things in a big way. You just need to add the right seasoning.”
Paul looked back over the Gulf as his head scanned the horizon from side to side.
He felt better about things.
“Thanks Oscar, I appreciate…..”
Paul was alone. There was no sign of Oscar anywhere on the beach. There was no way he could have left in any direction without Paul seeing him.
Paul looked back to the beach house to see Meghan approaching him. She joined him at the beach.
“I saw you out here alone. I thought I would join you if that’s okay?” She asked.
“Oh of course sweetheart!” Paul said.
“Did you see the man that was talking to me?” He asked her.
Meghan shook her head. “No, you were out here alone. That's why I came out here.”
Just over Meghan’s shoulder he saw Oscar’s hat hanging on a beach chair.
