When Life Gives You Waves, Learn to Surf Them
I grew up going to the beach most days during the idyllic Carlsbad summer. I remember one summer I was working at a coffee shop, so my work day started at 5am and ended at 2pm when I would go straight to the beach at Maple Street. I didn't even need to check with friends to see if anyone would be there because someone was always there. We would body surf, bodyboard, pepper with a volleyball, play Smashball, and get Slurpees and Laffy Taffy at 7-Eleven. Those were the days!
I never learned how to surf though. I think I've always kind of wanted to know how to surf but never wanted to take the time and pounding to learn. So, at the top of my list of things to do on my "life break" was learn to surf.
I signed up for a surf and yoga retreat at Sansara Resort in Cambutal, Panama (go there, it's amazing), was able to stand up in the whitewash on my first day, and paddled out past the break on my second day. I was feeling pretty darn good about myself until...cue seasickness.
Motion sickness has plagued me for as long as I can remember. I once spent "a once in a lifetime experience" in a helicopter touring Kauai just trying not to throw up. I get seasick on boats, kayaks, even stand up paddle boards on the ocean. However, it did not even occurred to me that I would get seasick laying on a surfboard. I had to get back on dry land after only a couple waves.
I felt like a deflated balloon tossed aside by an impatient child whose spit still clung sadly to the rolled-up opening.
After the nausea passed, aided by a beer (I'm not sure if it's the carbonation or alcohol but it works every time), I decided that I did not accept this outcome.
There were times in my life when I would have quit right then or toughed it out, telling myself that I never had to do that again once the week was over. But this time was different. I wanted to surf. I knew that I could surf.
The next morning I took Dramamine, trusted that it would do its job, and just focused on having fun. The seasickness still crept in after a little while, but I was able to stay out longer. I went back out the next morning with only Dramamine for breakfast, thinking that skipping food and coffee might help. It did. I stayed out a little longer. I just kept going out, continuing to learn with another amazing teacher in Costa Rica, taking in the wild jungle view from the water, occasionally popping up with ease and controlling a blissful ride down the line.
This is a real "aha" moment for me. I kind of believed that self-help babble about the power of positive thinking, the secret, etc, etc in theory, but flipping my frame of mind and focusing on what I wanted instead of what I didn't want really worked. If I had paddled out thinking, "I hope I don't feel sick, am I going to feel sick?", I definitely would have felt sick because that's all I was thinking about. Instead I looked forward to being out on the water, I laughed and celebrated successfully riding a wave as well as wiping out, I was happy for the little progression that I made each session.
By focusing my energy on what I wanted, I got it.
“Live life as if everything is rigged in your favor.”