On Success

I went to the beach yesterday with a group of friends. It was beautiful! The day was mostly sunny with some big puffy clouds meandering across the sky, the breeze went between pleasantly playful to dramatically fierce, and the water... the water was a beautiful green from a distance and clear from up close. It was a bit bracingly cold at first, but once my body numbed to it, it was delightful.

The whole day was pleasant and I could tell you about everything that happened, but I'd rather focus your attention on one element.

While most people in our group were trying to catch waves with boogie boards, there were a few people who were trying to catch the waves with nothing but their bodies, called "body surfing." It looked so cool! So the second time I went in, I asked them to teach me how. It was harder than using a board, because it involved a lot of waiting and much more precise timing, but I found it more fun because of the extra challenge.

I missed most of the suitable waves. I could tell because I'd jump forward (towards the shore) right before the wave broke, then kick... but I'd feel the wave pass me and leave me where I'd jumped. I could always tell when I'd missed it.

The interesting thing, though, is that I couldn't tell when I'd caught one. It didn't feel like I was surging forward towards the shore, driven by the strength of the sea; on the contrary, it felt like chaos. Sand, water, and bubbles rushing at me from all directions, threatening to get up my nose and drown me. Really, there were a few times when I could have easily freaked out, not knowing which way was up or if my head was above or under water. But I always remembered something a good friend once told me: "If you're in a wave and you don't know which way is up, just relax; you'll float to the top eventually." So that's what I'd do.

After being blustered by all this chaos for a moment or two, I'd reach for the bottom with my feet and be surprised at how shallow the water was. I'd stand up and look around, and realize I was quite a few meters closer to the shore from where I'd been just moments ago. My instructor-friend would look at me with a huge smile on her face, and she'd say, "You did it! You caught a wave!"

So in the chaos, in the uncertainty, even in the fear of not knowing what was what, I'd been succeeding.