Learn to surf

Surfer in a large swell

Life can be absolutely terrifying, but once you learn to ride it like a surfer, your biggest dream will be a tsunami.

Surfing has gotten me so intrigued recently. Binge watched so many surfing and skim-boarding videos on youtube recently. I would probably learn and attempt it at some point in my life, but I reflected on the act of surfing. It expects so much from the surfer, and yet, what is the one attitude or character we see in almost all surfers? Cool, composed, laid back, chilled out, and a whole lot of swag and style. It is almost a stereotype that is so true. 

Let's look at some of these qualities/ expectations - Physical strength, a toned and strong body is like the fundamentals, strong, grounded legs and an even stronger core to centre your body while on that small board riding on the backs of, well, death essentially. Not to mention the strength and good lung function required to swim and sometimes survive a "wipeout". 

Now onto the mental strength - well, I think it is safe to say that you will have to have a level of insanity to surf some of these devilish tsunamis. Check out the classic Nazare, Portugal wave surfing video and you will know what I mean. You will basically have to be fearless and have balls of steel, and have a brain where your amygdala has shrunken into oblivion. Next is the tenacity and curiosity that makes you feel alive. Always out looking for larger waves, determined to enter that barrel and ride it out, emerging out feeling like a million bucks. Years of practice, countless wipeouts and failures, and despite that, they keep climbing back onto their boards, chasing that wave. 

That brings us to my last reflective point on surfing. Despite the huge, intimidating (literally) challenge they see swell up before their eyes, they charge towards it with their boards, while a normal human runs away from it. As the famous modern day yogi Sadhguru puts it, life is a huge wave. It can be absolutely terrifying, but once you learn to ride it like a surfer, your biggest dream will be a tsunami. Learn to surf out life guys - surf out your emotions, thoughts, fears, challenges, desires, pains, sufferings, happiness, success, achievements, accolades. Surf LIFE guys, and you will not be running away from life, hiding in a corner, anxious and depressed. You will be charging out like a surfer who is possessed when he sees a large swell. When you learn this, life will be an absolute joy. But learning to surf life can be 100X more difficult compared to learning to surf the ocean. I will hopefully learn to do both one day. Until then, peace out friends! Live life to the fullest, and make the right choices, it only takes one second :)