Give yourself the opportunity to be surprised
Surfing teaches me so many life lessons.
Surfing is an activity where you need to put in a lot of time to get better, because the arena in which you are playing in is always different. No two waves are the same, and conditions (such as wind, direction and amount of swell, tide levels, location, etc.) impact the formation of every wave. I was all bummed thinking that because I am only surfing once a week or so (compared to my previous habit of 5 times per week), my progress would be stopped short, that I wouldn’t get much better anytime soon. But three recent experiences surprised me, and reminded me that the ocean’s gifts are abundant.
One morning, I forgot my leash, and surfed without one for the first time. Back in the day, before the leash was invented, surfers would have to swim for their board if board and surfer were separated during a wipe out. Surfing with no leash results in a beautiful style because you keep your board close, and you finish your rides cleanly. Well, the morning I forgot my leash, I got on three waves and didn’t lose my board! And the upside was, I was forced to end my rides with some grace when dismounting. I learned to not rely on my leash during that session. I now try to pretend that I’m not wearing a leash, to not rely on it, and perhaps when the waves are smaller, I’ll start surfing without one to further improve my style and discipline.
On another recent morning, I left my nose plug in the car because I started riding a Biki bicycle instead of driving to the ocean (this is when beach parks were closed and parking was impossible to find). Billy has been wanting me to stop using the nose plug as a crutch, but I always refused because I hated getting so much water up my nose and sinuses when I wipe out. But I realized I wipe out less now (at least on the smaller days), and so I am getting used to surfing without it. This seems like something a little silly to be proud of… yet proud I am!
Lastly, I’ve struggled with duck diving ever since I started short boarding in 2017. I recently got a new board, my smallest surf board yet - a Pyzel Pyzalian (5’10” x 19’.25” x 2.25”), and because it’s less bouyant compared to my epoxy Kashiwai short board, I am able to dip the board under the water better. Or maybe doing it with one board freed up a mental block, because now I can even duck dive with the Kashiwai board… either way, it’s a dream come true, to make progress on my duck dive.
I guess I am sharing this information because I’m happy to be proven wrong, and I wanted to spread the message, give yourself the opportunity to be surprised. Instead of feeling like I’m not doing enough or that I’m not good enough, I am reminded to appreciate where I am right now and that it is a great place to be. That doing the best I can is enough.
Duck diving has been such a major dream of mine I even created a painting of it last year, titled The Dream II.