Surfing is a Life Coach
Surfers have a strong connection to Nature. If you tried to determine which pieces of
surfing attract people of all ages, I am not sure I could say one piece is more dominant
than another?
Surfing attracts boarders. It is common that snowboarders, skateboarders, and wake
boarders say why not surfing? They are accustomed to interacting with our environment
with a piece of equipment. That equipment connects them to something natural on
which they express their own dance.
Surfing attracts athletes who enjoy expressing their physical talents to have fun. I have
played every sport in which I could possibly engage which have included balls, boards,
bikes and shoes (running and hiking). I have enjoyed many environments which include
the beach, the mountains, hills, and sports courts (tennis, basketball, baseball, handball,
football, and racquetball).
One of my strongest demographics for reading surfing material is teenage girls
especially around the age of 15. They are also one of the most likely age and gender to
take lessons. This is partly because boys want to learn on their own, but I would guess
more girls are becoming surfers than ever before.
People who see surfing in the movies want to try surfing. In the 1960’s, when the surfing
craze exploded and the music followed along, everyone was enraptured with the culture
and it spread around the world. The movies made surfers cool. They showed surfers
had an independent streak. Surfers seemed to have a higher calling in that they
communed with the power of God. They wear comfortable clothes.
Like many athletic people I teach, we all agree surfing is the most difficult sport. When
people ask me if it’s like something they already know how to do like snowboarding or
wake boarding, I say that it is not. Everything we do, however, can add to our ability to
surf.
Surfing requires balance, strength, stamina, and flexibility. It requires the ability to learn,
practice, and find our limits. Unlike many sports, it requires heaps of courage. You
never get knocked down on a tennis court like you do from a big wave.
How would you compare surfing to engagements by extreme athletes? Extreme
athletes hone their skills to a high capability which they test in environments that could
result in death.
Surfing is one of those sports in which death is a possibility. Most of us don’t push that
boundary, but it is clearly available and we know it is easy to get beyond our comfort
zone. The big wave experts that enter the annual contest at Mavericks are not
comfortable riding 30 foot waves. Josh Kerr quoted in an article in Surfline by Marcus
Sanders talks about his experience on opening day of Mavericks.
“I definitely feel jitters on opening day,” he said. “I’m still nervous every time I surf, which
is a good thing. If I wasn’t nervous, it’d be scary. That’s what I love: conquering those
nerves you have paddling out. Once I’m in the lineup, I’m a lot more comfortable than I
was in the 24 hours leading up to getting in that lineup.”
Meaningful activities are often preceded by that adrenaline before we feel comfortable.
It tells us we are about to do something important. I think this is an experience
performers and extreme athletes both accept and seek.
I hope you will wake up in the mornings wondering what would make your day exciting
and how you could seek something new and challenging. Surfers do it on a daily basis
and it is a great model for measuring your engagement in other activities.
Surfers have found soul. It is possible for everyone to find activities and a life that
connects to Universal energies. We can lift our vibrational resonance. We can bring
others along. There is no reason not to have hope. The evidence civilization has a big
hill to climb is all around us.
Please come and join me in the water. It gives one such great perspective. Or find your
realm where man and God come together to play.
The Attraction of Surfing from my book The Surfers Life on Amazon
For the following services call 760-696-7149: Individual Surf lessons in Oceanside, private group and family surf lessons, Oceanside surf lessons for kids, package lessons for vacations and more in-depth learning.