I grew up in Southern California and took up surfing in my late teenage years. I wasn’t really good but I did enjoy myself.
And you know what my favorite part of surfing was?
It was actually sitting out on my board, in the water, just beyond where the waves would break. Enjoying the calm and connecting with the other surfers. There was a sense of peace and simplicity.
It was not until recently that I realized how much those moments are an analogy for my life. I would actually catch some waves. There is nothing more exhilarating than hustling and paddling to catch a wave, have it start taking you and then actually standing up and not falling off right away! Then I would want to do it again and again...
but maybe not again.
There are many surfers that do that hustle, that go-go-go, that catch as many waves as you can in a day. They love every minute of the rush and want more.
But for me, I loved those moments in spurts. I got exhausted and overwhelmed and would need that time to just sit out on my board, beyond the break and breathe and enjoy the calm, simple moments.
This is so much like my life. I can hustle and push and go, but only for a time. Only for a season. Sometimes that season is a few weeks or months but rarely longer.
I revel in the calmer, simpler moments to just be present. Not to necessarily stop, but more like coast forward. In those coasting moments I recharge, gain strength, plan intentionally, and reflect, and then once I push again it is with more of a purpose.
So would I have gotten to be a pro surfer doing it that way? Maybe, although it might not be til I was 70 and in a different age group. :) But I would be a 70-year-old who looked back at my life not with regret, but proud I lived it authentically and true to myself.
For those of you who have made it through this novel and are wondering if I still surf. Not so much. I live in New Jersey, not near the coast and I tend to worry more. So now I am convinced that if I went out I would be that one super rare person that gets bit by a shark in waters that shark have never been seen before.
simple living is my jam
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