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What gives surfers the ability to face negative situations with a positive attitude? Why do we smile and quietly move to the next gate while other passengers get arrested for air rage? Where does this attitude come from? This attitude comes from the greatest teacher on the planet: the ocean. We learn to adapt from the ocean. When one spends as much time as we do in the water, you realize our place in the universe. We are but men. We can't change the sea, so we must adapt to meet her needs. If it's cold, we wear a wetsuit. We don't "force" ourselves on her with aerials and tail slides. We glide, trim and walk the nose. We ride the energy, we don't attempt to control it. The ocean tells us what she is going to do and we change ourselves to accommodate her. This lesson is invaluable. This lesson carries over to all aspects of life: work, school, traffic jams, marriage, illnesses and even death. These are all inevitable. So we do as we are taught in class, we adapt. We don't panic and try to control the situation, we try to clear our minds and find the best solution to the problem at hand. We take one problem at a time. When the horizon disappears and the monster clean up set rolls toward you, you can't panic. You face the set, hold your breath and hang on. And if you're lucky, as you calmly duck your head under the green pacific, you'll have time to turn your head and catch a glimpse of the beautiful rage that is our teacher. The teacher who has taught us the most valuable lesson we could learn: the ability to adapt. |
As I sit in Miami international airport waiting to board flight 629 bound for San San Costa Rica, a voice comes over the intercom. First in Spanish and then in English. "Flight 628 to San Jose, Costa Rica is now boarding through gate 14a." Problem is: I'm at gate 13b. Here we go again. More problems and issues to deal with and we haven't even left the ground yet. So far we have encountered: terrible traffic on 95 south, a two hour check in delay, a thorough search, and a gate change. But we press on, with a smile. After all , we are surfers, going on a surf trip. We're used to this. Problems and delays come with the territory and this is the lifestyle we chose years ago.