Surfing Analogy
You sit on your board, gently bobbing up and down as waves roll into the shore. Every now and then you see a wave you like so you turn and paddle. Sometimes you catch it and sometimes you don't. When you catch that first wave you hardly know what to do. Frantic paddling followed by futile attempts to stand up. You collect your board and try again. Eventually you are able to get to your feet. The feeling is intoxicating.
After some practice standing becomes routine. Next you learn to ride parallel to shore instead of straight in. Eventually you start learning some tricks. There are the inevitable wipeouts along the way. Some small, some not. Occasionally the surf drives you into the ocean floor. It hurts, but you just grab your board and head back out. What else is there to do?
Occasionally you have the ocean to yourself, but usually you share it with others. Some you know, most you don't. The conversation is pleasant enough when it occurs, but when it comes to catching that wave, harnessing that power, possibly succumbing to it, you are all alone. No one else on the board, no one else in that tube, no one else being tossed around in the froth.
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What happens when you are tired of surfing? I know I am. I'm not saying I want to stop, just that I'm tired of it. Truth be told I was never very good at it to begin with. Even if I could catch a wave and ride it to perfection, being swallowed up by wave after wave is causing more pain that any pleasure wave-riding is bringing me.
What happens when life is like surfing, your wet-suit is constricting, the wax on your board is causing a rash, and the endless bobbing of the ocean is starting to make you sea sick?
After some practice standing becomes routine. Next you learn to ride parallel to shore instead of straight in. Eventually you start learning some tricks. There are the inevitable wipeouts along the way. Some small, some not. Occasionally the surf drives you into the ocean floor. It hurts, but you just grab your board and head back out. What else is there to do?
Occasionally you have the ocean to yourself, but usually you share it with others. Some you know, most you don't. The conversation is pleasant enough when it occurs, but when it comes to catching that wave, harnessing that power, possibly succumbing to it, you are all alone. No one else on the board, no one else in that tube, no one else being tossed around in the froth.
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What happens when you are tired of surfing? I know I am. I'm not saying I want to stop, just that I'm tired of it. Truth be told I was never very good at it to begin with. Even if I could catch a wave and ride it to perfection, being swallowed up by wave after wave is causing more pain that any pleasure wave-riding is bringing me.
What happens when life is like surfing, your wet-suit is constricting, the wax on your board is causing a rash, and the endless bobbing of the ocean is starting to make you sea sick?