Surfboards and Life Lessons
Step 1: get on
Step 2: fall off
I laid on the beautiful Aruban beach two weekends ago watching experienced surfers wipe out on their specially crafted surfboards. They got on, went out and fell off. Like a routine. They weren't afraid of being knocked off, they knew it would happen. Despite the intimidating water of the Caribbean Sea, they got on, fell off and went back out – every single time. They didn't let the waves of the water put fear in their heart. Instead, they let it excite them. They let their recent defeat motivate them to conquer. To go harder. To work until they get it.
Sound a little life. We get on, fall off. Only many of us are afraid to get back on. Many of us allow the first fall to cripple us. Paralyze us. Keep us quiet.
We don't create a routine surfers do. We don't get excited at the obstacles ahead, we get scared. We experience fear, and allow that fear to stand in our way. We pack away our surfboards and go back inside. We continue to work on things we've already mastered; things we know we can do. We're safe there. We're comfortable where we are inside – away from the waves.
Two weekends ago, I laid on the beautiful Aruban beach watching surfers collide and flip over. I watched them be washed out by the Caribbean sea, mouths surprisingly filled with water. I watched those same surfers grab their boards and get back on. I watched them determined to master a new technique, a new trick, a new wave. I watched them fearlessly trek back into the same water that moments before knocked them off their feet – literally – with fire in their eyes to accomplish what they'd originally set out for. I watched them. I watched it. They fell. They failed. But they continued.
Let's be more like surfers.
Let's not let the fear of falling halt us from getting better. From continuing. From growing. From falling off again, and again...and again. Because we know each time we fall off, the next will be a little softer. We build the endurance to fall off again and to no longer be afraid of doing so. With each fall, comes more growth. More development. More waves. And with each wave, a chance to surf higher.