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Catching the Wave |
| Posted on May 27 2009 |
If you’ve ever surfed, you’ll know that the feeling you get when you catch a wave is one of the best feelings in the world.
Yet it’s so simple. It’s just you and a board, riding the natural energy of the sea, working in harmony with nature.
When I first got hooked on surfing last year, it struck me why surfing is much more than a sport for many people – it’s a lifestyle choice, a great way to clear the mind, but it’s also a metaphor for life, reflecting the attitudes and beliefs of the surf culture.
After a morning’s surfing, my body felt revitalised, my mind focused and I felt a sense of calmness that I hadn’t remembered for a long time. Coming to live in Devon I realised what that feeling was. It’s the feeling of being out in nature. There’s a feeling of being connected to something larger than ourselves, and of being in harmony with the world.
It’s the ultimate healthy lifestyle choice, yet it’s often forgotten, especially when you’re caught up in the routine of everyday life.
Why would anyone want to pound a treadmill in a sweaty gym when you can get out and run outdoors? How does MTV through a set of headphones compare to the unrivalled beauty that we have in nature, and all the sights and sounds that come with it?
On a day like today, a "big blue sky" day, warm spring sunshine, I look out to the estuary and it’s all so simple really. As Van sang, "no guru, no method, no teacher, just you and I in nature". In nature, everything makes sense, it’s just us that complicates it.
I remember the days spent surfing and why it felt so good. We belong to the earth, not the other way around, but we often forget this and end up destroying that which is truly precious to us. When we work in tune with nature, it works. It’s just a case of accepting some of the laws of nature, and working with them while you ride the waves.
In surfing, you expect there to be ups and downs. There’s the ebb and flow of the wave, both entirely necessary. In life, we need to learn to live with the ebb and the flow. It may seem like when the tide is turning and things are changing, that it’s a negative thing. We don’t like change, we’re conditioned to think change is bad. Yet, like the ebb of the wave, it’s necessary. When there’s a lull in the waves, we don’t swim out looking for them, we have faith that more waves are coming.
As in life, we know "This too will pass".
Then when you catch the wave, there’s no predicting what will happen. The key to staying on the board is relaxing with the fact that you don’t know what’s going to happen. All you can do is wonder where the wave is going to take you.
It’s a healthy way to think: "I wonder what will happen in my life today". No expectations, no disappointments, it’s just "going with the flow".
It always amazed me the sheer force there is in a wave, and the strength it has when you catch it just at the right time. Timing is everything, going for the right one and fully committing to that wave once you’ve made the decision to take it on. Sometimes it’s chance, but sometimes there’s just a "knowing" that you’re going to catch it. You can feel it, it feels right because you’re in tune with nature.
Trust your instinct and go for it. When your head is clear and your body energised, its like you’re fine tuned and you’ll "know" what’s right.
Every now and again, you’ll catch the same wave as someone else, and that feels amazing. Its like you’re connected through the wave, and there’s someone right next to you feeling exactly the same high. There’s the unspoken rule that should one of you get into trouble, you’ll be there to lift them out of the water and tell them it’s going to be ok.
And it is going to be OK. It always is.
Last changed: Jun 06 2009 at 5:28 PM
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