What I Didn't Learn about Myself from Surfing: Part 2

In my last post I wrote about learning to surf in San Diego and some of the things about myself that prevented me from surfing well.  In the end, I realized I already knew these things about myself but I also came to appreciate some of my strengths in my surfing experience:

I’m not afraid of learning new things or experiencing new things (even sometimes scary things).  I had traveled across the country by myself, to a city I had never been to, where I knew no one.  I was in the Pacific Ocean with a surfboard and a surf instructor I had just met.  As Randy and I were about knee deep in the water, he told me about the jellyfish.  Apparently sometimes there are jellyfish in the water by the sandbar we were on, and they sting.  So Randy showed me how to do the “Jellyfish shuffle” by more slowly moving my feet forward rather than taking big steps in order to allow the critters to move out of the way before stepping on them.  Randy told me a few other people learning how to surf had gotten stung. 

I don’t give up easily.  I don’t even know how many dozens of times I fell off that surfboard.  Sometime I barely even managed to get going forward in a wave.  But time after time I forced my way back out against the waves to try again.  When I failed to get up using one method of getting up on the board I tried another way.   I was determined to surf and my actions reflected it.

I’m not afraid to fail.  While I had visions in my mind of me surfing like the professional surfers, I had a pretty good idea that this wouldn’t be the reality.  I knew learning to surf would be hard and I knew I wouldn’t be an instant success, but I did it anyway.  Also, I wasn’t afraid to fail big.  I’m really glad there weren’t many people on the beach that day because I’m sure some of my falls were some of the most ungraceful things I’ve done in my life.

I’m not afraid to dream and do what it takes to make my dream a reality.  As far as dreams go, learning to surf isn’t a huge or important dream, but it is something that I’ve wanted to do for a while so I made the plans and figured out a way to make it happen.

I know when it’s time to rest and renew.  This is something I’m still learning to be good at, but when I was surfing I demonstrated the skill well.   When I had tried my best, I had fallen more times that I could count, and I was just plain tired and hungry, I got some seriously delicious nachos and ate them on the beach while watching the clouds roll by and listening to the waves.