Had a fun Monday morning surf session yesterday. People getting some great waves. When I complimented someone on their wave, a cracking left, they smiled and said, “I got lucky.”
We all felt lucky yesterday but, it’s not true, even though we may believe it. To be there, at the right spot, at the right moment, and catch the right wave, took a host of decisions, some unconscious decisions after years of practice, some were conscious, some were immediate and many historical.
Where to sit, where to move, where and when to move, when to paddle for the wave, when to stand up, how to, when and how turn, etc etc. Even to be there in the water, and strong enough to paddle to that spot as the wave comes and paddle in and make it, takes decisions. Deciding to surf, to spend the money on the right board, to practice, to keep going when you have poor sessions or nearly drown, to surf or train enough to be fit, consider what you eat, how you live.
To be in the water on a Monday morning after 9 am, I had to decide to go surfing instead of work. I decided to walk away from a higher paying job to start my own company so I have that flexibility. I decided to live by the beach in a place with lots of options so I can go most days. I decided upon a partner who thinks the same things are important, happiness and loving life over money and material things, which allowed it all to happen.
It’s not luck that gets you in the right place at the right time and catching those waves. It’s not just the decisions you make in that moment, or just before it. It’s the decisions you make in life. They add up, and leave us feeling lucky, or unlucky, depending upon the choices we have made.
Surfing is important to me, I recognise that and take that into account when I make decisions. That’s given me a life that allows me to surf often, and to sometimes be in the right spot at the right time, to catch THAT wave, and smile and say, “I got lucky!”