Life lessons from Surfing

kelly-slater-portraitEach time I go out for a surf I feel like the universe has a lesson for me. Today I thought I’d share them with you. So here are the top things I’ve noticed Surfing has to teach me.

1. Patience is indeed a virtue, learning to enjoy the wait is critical to a great surf. Sometimes, being short of time and often having someone mind the kids while I surf, I find myself wishing the waves would hurry up. The more impatient I get the more I spoil the moment. Enjoying floating about in the beautiful blue ocean, sun shining and seagulls flying overhead is almost as good as catching waves. It’s certainly a great place to be!

2. You can’t ride the wave all the time, much of surfing is paddling against the current, getting pummelled upside down or just waiting, waiting, waiting for the right wave. In life many people now believe that happiness is their birth right, of course it’s part of life, but so is challenge, frustration, sadness and disappointment. We’d be much happier if we dropped the expectation that it has to be perfect.

3. It takes cooperation with the surfers arround you to avoid complete chaos and dangerous situations. As in life, in the surf there are certain rules that need to be followed. If you drop in on someone or don’t get out of the way of another surfer then you put yourself in a situation that a. could be dangerous or b. could make the other surfer angry and frustrated. The more you follow the rules and the more polite you are the better surf you’ll have.

4. You get the most out of surfing when you get out of your head and into the present moment. No more need be said on that!

5. When you focus on where you want to be in the wave it becomes easier. When you focus on stacking or trying to avoid someone, invariably that’s what happens. In life when we focus on what we want our unconscious mind goes out and creates it, conversely when we focus on what we don’t want we perpetuate that as well.

6. Surfing takes practice, it’s hard work at first, but when you get the skills it becomes easy and lots of fun. Just like going to the gym to build muscle, or indeed becoming happier in your everyday life, there are certain things you need to learn, skills you need to practice and a mindset you need for success.

I’m still very much learning to surf, I’m enjoying it immensly, not only for the waves, but the reminders it gives me about the way I want to live my life.

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