Learning to Surf and Finding Your Passion

Those who love to surf identify themselves as surfers.                 

If you ask them what they like to do or who they are, surfing is going to be key.

If you ask most people to state who they are they will begin with their job or maybe the fact they are a parent. After that they will get into some personality traits. It might go like I am an electrician, a father, a good friend, a generous person.

Why is surfing which becomes a passion so tied into our identity? I backed into it by moving to the beach and wanting to include it as part of my fitness routine. I had no idea what it was really all about although I had surfed in high school and a few times in Hawaii.

I certainly had forgotten the paddling, the struggle with the surf on a sand bar beach, the wipe outs, and the thrill of being on top of a board pushed by Mother Nature. If you add the environment of water, sun, blue skies and being outdoors, you have a great mix.

It became an instant challenge. I could go either way. I could say this is more work than I wanted. I could get hurt. This is going to test part of me that has never been tested. I could fail. Or I could do this and become one of the people who are out there having an unbelievable time and coming out of the water completely exhilarated with a self satisfaction that they had won.

Now, when I come out of the water, I feel my day has been made. For whatever reason God put me on earth, I have satisfied my own need of fulfilling my life by the simple act of pitting myself against Mother Nature’s waves.

When I come out of the water, I am thinking of the next time I get to go in. I have to pace the energy demands so that I can go each day and my routine of exercise, nutrition, yoga, aerobics are all focused to keep me healthy and surfing every single day. I only miss a few days a month.

Surfing not only challenges me to succeed, it challenges me to get better inch by inch. There is always something you can add. There are always bigger waves. There is always better conditioning that allows you to stay out longer or go more times in a day. There is always me against myself to find the ceiling.

What other kinds of pursuits can totally wrap up what we are and fire us into the fray like coming out of a cannon? People have lots of passions. There is certainly work or trying to build a business around something you love and want to share.

There is certainly being an artist, writer, chef, musician, teacher, or social worker. Each one is an opportunity to see just what the total combination of our mental, emotional, psychological, and physical traits can paint on our canvas.

Some may be determined to do something in the public spotlight or that public recognition creates the level of achievement. A quarterback or politician needs accomplishment and votes to establish the highest tier of success.

Others need their own self stamp of approval to acknowledge that they have achieved what they were looking for. In most experiences we are looking for a feeling. In finding a mate, love is a feeling. In having children, pride is certainly a feeling. In our careers, a net worth might deliver the feeling.

Finding a passion is often finding something that delivers the feeling we are looking for. Or in reverse, it is finding something that delivers the feeling that we want to experience over again.

A passion does require us to lay it on the line. Even if no one else knows, we know whether we made the grade. If you want to pursue mountain biking and you decide it is too tough or dangerous, no one would judge you poorly. Only you know what happened.

If you enjoy finding your physical limits, connecting with nature, living outdoors, being in the water, then surfing delivers a lot of the feelings you find gratifying.  Gratitude is the end result of finding and enjoying your passion. You are thrilled you have the opportunity and you want others to have their opportunity to feel the same way.