Surfing is a strange sport. About 99% of time is spent paddling and waiting, and only 1% actually standing up and riding waves.
Sometimes I’m in the water for 2 hours and only catch 4-5 waves.
This can be frustrating for beginners and bystanders to understand. Why go through hours of pain only to get a few brief moments of gain?
Here’s the secret. It’s the reason surfers keep going back again and again. Here’s why surfers are so happy….
It’s not about just looking forward to those few moments standing on waves, it’s about enjoying the times before, after, and in between waves. Surfers enjoy the process. Surfers enjoy regular life, even when nothing is happening.
We can apply this to many other situations in life. Times where we wait and wait and wait for good things to happen. Long periods of nothing in between short lived accomplishments.
The trick is to find happiness in the downtimes. To not get restless in the moments where nothing is accomplished. To relax and enjoy the entire process. Just be happy with regular life.
Have a great day!
– Joel