Life Is Like Surfing

When you first start surfing, you overthink everything.

Your stance. Your balance. Your timing.

You try so hard to get it right that you forget to enjoy the process. Every wipeout feels like failure. Every wave that drags you under feels personal.

There are so many small details to remember, are you in the right spot to get the wave, who’s around you, which way are you going, when do you pop-up?

And this cycle continues endlessly as you start your new adventure and you question if this is every going to get easier.

But the moment you finally stand up, even just for a few seconds as you glide along the wave, thats when you get a taste of what can come.

That’s when the real journey begins.

And just like surfing, life isn’t about fighting the waves. It’s about learning to move with them.

It’s about understanding that no matter how much effort you put in, you will never control the ocean, but you can learn to navigate it. To flow with it.

The Battle Through the Whitewash

Every surfer knows the struggle of getting past the whitewash.

You paddle out, only to be met with relentless walls of water pushing you back. You get tossed around, saltwater filling your nose, arms burning from the endless effort and seemly going no where.

The first few times, it feels impossible, like the ocean is telling you to stay out, daring you to give up. It’s exhausting, frustrating, and at times, makes you question why you even tried in the first place.

Life is no different.

Every time you try something new, starting a business, learning a new skill, stepping into the unknown of life, it feels like an uphill battle. An endless maze of whitewash with no end it sight.

You feel stretched in ways that don’t feel comfortable.

The resistance is immediate. Doubt creeps in.

The discomfort makes quitting look like an easy option. You begin to convince yourself that you aren’t cut out for this, that maybe you should stick to what’s safe.

And most people stop here.

They let the struggle convince them that they’re not meant for this. They mistake the challenge for a sign that they should turn back. Seeking the comfort of land that you know oh so well.

But if you push through just long enough, something shifts.

Finding the Flow

Its the pushing through, till one day, you stand up on your first wave. Maybe it’s small, maybe you barely stand up, but in that moment, you feel it.

The rhythm. The flow. The effortless glide of moving with the ocean rather than against it. And suddenly, all the effort, the paddling, the wipeouts, the exhaustion, makes sense.

This is how life works.

At first, we’re so caught up in doing things right that we forget to let things happen for us.

We fight the current. We resist the process. We get so locked into expectations that we forget to actually experience what’s in front of us. We forget to find the joy in the process.

But the more we show up, the more we learn to let go.

The struggle becomes part of the experience, not something to avoid. And the setbacks become lessons, not reasons to quit.

The journey becomes the part of the sweetness, not just the outcome.

Because the ocean doesn’t always give you the perfect wave you wish it would. And neither does life.

Why Surfing (and Life) Is About Presence

Surfing teaches you one of life’s greatest lessons: You are not in control, no matter much you try and control it.

You don’t control the ocean. You don’t control the waves. All you can control is how you respond.

And that’s all life really is, responding, adjusting, and staying present to what is.

• When you fight the waves, you waste energy.
• When you hesitate, you miss opportunities.
• When you embrace the ride, life unfolds in ways you never expected.

The surfers who progress the fastest aren’t the ones who obsess over every detail. They’re the ones who stay loose, adjust as needed, and trust the process. And as you progress you start to see things in a different light.

This is so beautifully exemplified when you watch a veteran surfer in the line up, their movements are effortless and calm, truly art in motion.

But its really how they handle the unexpected, the things that are out of their control like another surfer dropping in on their wave.

You see there is something called “priority” when you are going for waves and its what keeps a natural order in the lineup, how surfers know when its their turn or not.

And when you don’t follow this rule its equivalent to running a red light and can lead to some bad situations.

When somebody drops in on your wave you really have a few options:

1. You can yell at them, letting them know it was your wave and protest that they are ruining your ride (No different then somebody cutting you off while driving.)
2. Or, you can keep your distance being aware of the situation and while enjoying it for what it is, knowing you’ll have another opportunity come again soon.

Think about how often we do the opposite in life. We try to control every outcome, overanalyze every step, and resist the things we cannot change. And in doing so, we exhaust ourselves needing it to be a certain way before we even get to the part where we ride the wave.

What would happen if you treated life the same way?

Learning to Ride the Waves of Life

So how do you start living with the same flow that surfing teaches us?

1. Stop Fighting the Current

Resistance only makes things harder. Instead of wishing things were different, learn to work with what is. Life will never be perfect, but you can always adjust. Accept that struggle is part of the journey, not a sign of failure.

2. Show Up Consistently

No surfer gets better by paddling out once a month. Growth comes from showing up in good and bad conditions. Wiping out, learning, and repeating. The same goes for anything, business, relationships, personal growth. Consistency beats intensity. The more you practice, the easier things become. The wipeouts become learning moments, not reasons to quit.

3. Learn to Love the Process

The goal isn’t just to stand up on the board, it’s to enjoy every part of the experience as tough as it might be at the beginning. The face plants. The breakthroughs. The quiet moments sitting on your board in the lineup, waiting for the next wave. The more you fall in love with this journey of the unknown, the more in flow everything becomes.

Life isn’t about waiting for the perfect wave. It’s about learning to ride all the different conditions.

Some days will be smooth. Others will be messy.

Some days, you’ll wipe out more times than you can count.

But the ones who keep showing up, the ones who learn to embrace the ocean’s unpredictability, are the ones who grow, who find the flexibility within.

The waves aren’t stopping anytime soon. The only question is, will you keep paddling back out?

Because the ones who do,

They’re the ones who end up riding the biggest waves of their lives.