Catch a Wave

Summer is here and its time to play. One of the great things about living 45 miles from the Gulf Coast is living so close to the Gulf Coast. The beach, the sand, the surf, the sun – there is so much to do. It’s hard to pack all the fun into just 3 months of summer.

One of the greatest things to do at the beach is surf. Wax up the board, paddle out, pick out the perfect wave and then ride high and tall on a wild one. Well, I guess that’s how it’s done. I’ve never actually surfed.

For starters, surfing around these parts is really quite laughable. The waves are small – unless of course a hurricane is stirring up the Gulf. The water is a milky brown so it’s hard to see anything – even your feet in ankle deep water – and really unappealing. So the whole surfing experience never really called to me growing up.

I have seen real surfers in action though and it does look like a blast. A couple of years ago I was in Hawaii, heaven for surfer types. I happened to be on a bluff which looked out over an area where the currents came together and created these massive waves.

There were surfers all over the place. I could see beginner surfers just trying to get their balance and old pros that could take a wave as small as a ripple and make a ride out of it.

What a joy it was to watch. Everyone at the mercy of the ocean and what she had to offer. And as soon as a surfer rode a wave in or crashed out on one too early they all turned their boards back out to sea to try to catch the next big wave.

It is interesting to watch the anatomy of a wave. I have always thought of waves as something that begins out at sea and comes crashing into land. But high atop my bluff with the surfers participating as unwitting dancers in the sea’s waltz I noticed something new. The wave actually begins near shore and heads out before circling back in.

As I watched one surfer paddle out, the water he was paddling through suddenly got very still and shallow. It looked as though nothing was happening and this would be a dry spell for him. Actually, the water was being pulled out to sea instead of pushed to shore. Beneath him was created a trough; he was in a valley of water.

What was happening was the water that had been below him rushed out and became part of the wave forming slowly in front of him. But as he sat on his board he could not see this happening. This water helped create and build the high mountain of a wave that he so desired to climb. The lower his valley was, the higher and bigger his wave was going to be. And the bigger the rush he was about to experience once he stood atop his board and rode his wave back in.

So, as he sat there thinking nothing was happening a lot was happening – his glorious trophy wave was being created by the water that had also created his still valley.

The surfer’s deep valley made his best wave possible.

I can learn a lot from that surfer. He didn't give up when the water got still. He didn't paddle back in when the tide got low and it looked like the waves would not come. He stuck it out. He stayed with his board and with the gifts, talents and skills that brought him to that point. He had the patience to see it through. He may have gotten a little sunburned but in the end his perseverance was rewarded. And he got the ride of his life at the top of his mountain.

The top of the mountain is where I always want to be – whether that mountain is made of water or my wildest dreams. And with that mountain there will always be a valley. I can’t let the valley keep me from my mountain because the valley is part of the mountain.

I have never surfed but I feel a mountainous wave dead ahead. I am going to catch it and ride it high. And with all the joy and freedom that riding it is going to bring.

Are you waxed up and ready for a ride?

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