Positive Attitude

MAHALOS BRA

Today was absolutely crazy!!  Andrew, Robert, Brian, Dan, and I all went to Spanish river to practice surfing.  Dan is the only one out of all of us that is an avid surfer.  We arrived at the beach, we waxed our surf boards, and we all darted to the water.

As soon as we splashed into the water we immediately got hit by huge, thrashing waves.  The waves were about 5 feet high and coming one right after the other.  I pushed my board under the big waves and paddled out deeper into the ocean.  Surprisingly, the first wave I tried to paddle in I actually caught and surfed ALL the way into shore!  It was the most exhilarating experience of my life!  I never felt so at one with nature before.  I paddled hard for a bit, but after a few seconds I did not even need to paddle anymore.  The wave just took me.  It is crazy that something so vicious took me so smoothly to shore.  

I traded boards with Dan so that I could experience surfing on a long board.  I was starting to get comfortable with surfing on my belly on the surf board, but this is not my goal.  My goal is to stand up on a surf board and actually surf a wave.  

Dan got me in place and held my board for me as I got on it.  He told me to paddle hard on the next wave and as soon as the wave takes me to where I do not need to paddle anymore, try to pop up on my feet.  I did as he said.  I caught a wave.  I paddled until the wave took me and I did not need to paddle.  I popped up on my knees first and . . . BAM!   I went too far forward on the board and I made it dive down into the ocean, taking it with me.  The surf board flipped over me and dragged me to shore.  Andrew was shocked that I wasn't hurt!  He said he saw the surf board fall right on top of where I flew into the water. It must have just missed me.  

(Thats me...)

This did not stop me from running back into the water to try again... and again... AND AGAIN!  At one point, I got on my knees for a second, but then I lost my balance and plummeted into the ocean again. 

I think today was a great learning experience and I really feel like I can succeed with my goal!  I almost got up on my knees.  Once I master that, I can work on popping up on my feet.  All I need is practice and experience.  Ill be going out again tomorrow.  I CANT WAIT!  Sometimes when I try something new ill get frustrated, but surfing is different.  No matter how many times I fall into the ocean and fail on a surf attempt, it does not bring me down.  In fact, it makes me more determined.  Waves are continuous.  As long as the ocean continues to produce waves then I will be there trying to surf until I catch that one perfect wave that ill stand up on and complete my goal. 

P.S. I also tried skim boarding! Andrew tried to teach me how to skim board, he is really good at it! My goal to learn how to surf has introduced me to other things such as long boarding and skim boarding.