Life lessons learned from surfing.

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A couple of years ago I tried surfing and did what I thought was actual surfing. Okay, well, let me rephrase that. I did some land lessons and learned the ropes on how to pop up on the board and assumed it would be fairly easy to translate those instructions into real life surfing. Being the beginner that I was, I pulled my board out into the shallow waters in Tamarindo, Costa Rica and headed out to my meet my instructor. I didn't paddle out there, no, I lugged my board out and dodged waves by ducking under the water with my board over head ~ as instructed by my surf coach ~ and was completely distracted by the salt water burning my eyes and throat. I finally arrived at the breaker point and we watched as the little, unridable waves came in and washed over us. Finally, as we floated in the ocean, a good wave was en route and ridable. My instructor told me to hop on my board and paddle and then pop up when he said "UP!" I did just that and failed. . . several times. On one or two occasions, I got up with his assistance and "surfed" all the way to shore, feeling very accomplished yet still felt quite inept as my hand had basically been held the whole time during my surfing experience.

If you are a novice at surfing, I would definitely recommend getting an instructor, a good one. One that understands the waves and the importance of being a competent and self-reliant surfer.

Fast forward one year. I was recently in El Salvador and decided I'd try my hand at surfing again. The waves in El Salvador ~ at least where I was, in Las Flores, El Salvador were no joke. I watched from the safety of my hammock at the AST surf hotel as local surfers battled to paddle out to the breakers and ride the waves in. I watched as they got thrown around and around, yet would shake it off, then paddle back out for more. I was scared shitless to attempt those waves but decided I'd do my best and get in the water. 

This is NOT me but maybe some day it will be!

My instructor and friend Jorge, took me down to the beach where he encouraged me to stretch out and get ready for surfing. "You have to be ready for this. You have to be physically prepared" he said. We stretched and then he told me he wasn't going to take me to the big waves because it would be too much for me ~ to which I said a very sincere, "GRACIAS!" We headed out into the ocean and he was very clear with me as to how to position my body on the board and specifically how many times I needed to paddle to be able to get up. "You have to paddle SIX times, no less!" he'd say. I hopped up on my board, heart racing and fearing injury and failure. The waves came in, he shoved me off and said, "paddle!!" I felt the wave coming in behind me, started paddling and did my best to hop up but failed miserably.  I swam back out to meet him and his first question was, "How many times did you paddle?" I responded, "I don't know, maybe 4." He looked at me and said with a stern look on his face, " I told you SIX times, next time, paddle SIX times."

I tried again and again and again, paddling SIX times as was instructed by Jorge. I managed to catch a wave and ride it all the way in to shore. I did it. I paddled on my own, I caught the wave, stood up ~ not gracefully mind you~ but I did and I rode that wave all the way in. I was elated!

As I was surfing, I'd become accustomed to getting on the board from the left side of the board. It was my comfort zone, it's what I'd become used to doing. Jorge looked at me and told me point blank, "When you are surfing, you need to be able to get on the board from either side. From here on out, you get on the board on the right side. Period." It was awkward. It was uncomfortable. I wasn't used to doing it that way. As a good surfing student soldier, I abided and followed his instructions. After a couple of times I started hopping on the right side with ease.  At one point in time, I  had looked at the left side of the board and thought to myself, don't fall back into old habits that don't always work best for you. Be flexible. 

After actually surfing a couple of times, I felt dramatically different from my first attempt at surfing in Costa Rica versus my time in El Salvador. In Costa Rica, I took someone else's hand and allowed myself to be passive in the experience. In El Salvador, it was totally different. I was there. I was in it and I had an instructor who would not allow me to be passive. I learned to let my guard down and try things differently and trust in the outcome. 

 I took constructive criticism and it helped me to surf "on my own". I surfed from the other side of the board and to me that was a very symbolic event. I can be a very stubborn person who tends to want to do things my own way ~ and sometimes those ways don't always serve me well. Learning how to and literally being forced to do something way out of my comfort zone was eye opening. My confidence was boosted. My guard was let down enough to understand that sometimes the most comfortable way to do things isn't always the best option. We must be flexible and be confident in our abilities to tackle the ocean of life in the many ways it comes at us ~ from both sides of the board.

Viva la Vida!