Steve and Kynthos were building sandcastles at the beach, but Steve was miserable.
He had built his castle far from the water, but instead of enjoying himself, he constantly critiqued the beach, complaining that the sand was the wrong color and the stones were too uneven.
Kynthos had built his castle right on the edge of the water.
When a small wave lapped up and washed half of his wall away, Kynthos just smiled, shrugged it off, and said he was just grateful to be at the beach anyway.
The tide began to rise higher.
Steve grew furious, yelling at the ocean and critiquing the waves, arguing that the tide was completely unreasonable and unfair for moving closer to his perfect castle.
Meanwhile, Kynthos watched another wave completely destroy his main tower.
He sighed happily and said, "Oh well, maybe that's life!" refusing to build a protective wall or simply move his castle further up the sand.
Grandfather stepped between them.
"Steve, critiquing the tide brings misery. You cannot control the ocean, so simply take it in,"
he explained.
"And Kynthos, your gratitude does not stop a natural consequence from destroying your foundation. Do not shrug off what you *can* control when you could simply move your castle."
Steve finally stopped critiquing the water, taking in the beautiful rhythm of the waves.
Kynthos realized his mistake, picked up his bucket, and moved further up the beach where the waves couldn't reach, and they both enjoyed the rest of the day.
