True identity; the strongest force

The strongest force in the Universe is a Human being living consistently with his identity.

Tony Robbins

I read this off a calendar page, which had pictures of lightning bolts, aptly, because these wise words hit me like a lightning bolt.

If you ever wonder why your favourite singer, band, surfer or inspirational person, is just so good at what they do, it’s usually because they have an absolute conviction and passion for their identity and who they are. Kelly Slater seeks a swell and just takes off after it. The wave inspires in him a strong link with his identity and who he is. Walking past a bookshop, you may see a new novel or book by your favourite author; something that catches your eye and is consistent with your beliefs and identity. The next thing you know, you are enthralled in prose, again reinforcing in thoughts and beliefs what you believe to be part of your identity.

So when I read this quote, I stopped and thought. I flipped the calendar to this page and earmarked it. It’s amazing when a thought, action, vision or word inspires something in you that causes you to react in a way that is consistent with who you are. For me, a thousand thoughts came to my head, and immediately thoughts of surfing, Red Hot Chili Peppers, Paulo Coelho and travelling flooded my consciousness. I never thought about it, that being who you really are, that enforcing your true identity could be a source of permeating and radiating strength in the Universe. There is a saying that if everyone did what they really loved, the world would be a happier place.

I know that when I am in the moment of surfing, this amazing feeling comes over me. It’s both a feeling of challenge and release; it’s like the energy of an atom splitting. You need to put energy in to release new energy, and for me surfing does that every time. The incredible centeredness and connectedness with my true identity I feel after surfing is indescribable and well, inspiring. I feel with the energy I get from surfing I create a ripple through the Universe, sending out messages of strength, happiness, confidence and peace.

Yes, peace. Because to be at one with the world, we must first be grounded and peaceful with ourselves and our identity. In yoga, my teacher said that each pose teaches you both strength and softness at the same time. You need to use strength to achieve softness and grace in the pose. In the beginning you look for strength to be able to find conviction and consistency in what you are doing. And that is how you build character and identity; that is how you build up the ‘mental yoga’ of your life.

What an amazing concept...that being yourself and living in consistency with your true identity and soul is the strongest force in the Universe? So the message is clear; live at one with yourself and keep at it!

Copyright SoulSurfer © 22 December 2011 at 3.41pm

Inspiration is love at work

Someone once said, that at the end of life, each person will be judged not by what they did, but how much love they put into what they did. I don’t like the word “judged” as it is so final and harsh, but I do share the sentiment.

During yoga class, a question arose from our teacher “Can we put love into what we are doing every moment?”. Even during a torturous yoga pose, which is meant to be relaxing and releasing, can we manage to send out love? When we do the most mundane things, like catch the bus, buy our morning paper or even write a routine Tuesday morning email – can we put love into the moment?

Love seems to be something that is only reserved for those close to us and those we care about. It is often rationed out and segregated to those people and things we judge as being worthy of it.

But I think love needs to be not only a daily, but constant practice. Every moment needs to be about sending out love. When we engage with the moment we are in and add love to it, we experience a surge of inspiration and ultimately love again. I think inspiration is love at work. When you are working with love; living, breathing, exercising, eating love, you feel inspired in your life’s goals and on purpose.

Think of Kelly Slater who has so much to live up to. He has said he enjoys nothing more than to track a swell and go after it. He has abandoned important career-changing competitions, just to go after his passion for surfing, and find inspiration to continue surfing. Love leads to inspiration, and inspiration always finds love.

I believe it is a love for what he does and the inspiration he gets from it, that keeps my grandfather, at age 84, working in his beloved job. The inspiration he gets from his job fuels the fire of the passion for it. He always devotes a 100% to his work, because he is truly doing what he loves.

In our lives it is not easy to always feel love for everything we do. We may experience more love and inspiration from one thing and less from another. But like Kelly Slater, we must learn to chase our own swells – really chase the things that inspire us and that we can devote love to. We must give love to everything and see where we get the most love back. That, right there, is your swell – your life’s passion.

Written by Copyright © SoulSurfer 14 November 2011 at 10.35pm

Live for the journey, not the destination

“I love nothing more, nothing gets me more passionate than tracking a swell and flying after it” – Kelly Slater

After 10 full months of surfing, after the many kilometers travelled, the many times squeezing into wetsuits, waxing boards, repairing dings, getting thrashed in every possible way by the rips and currents, I have come to appreciate how much the journey of surfing means to me.

As any amateur surfer you start off admiring all the barrels and flips of the pro surfers, eagerly devouring every surfing video in sheer awe and amazement. The will to be ‘that good’ is strong, but is the dedication always there?
I made it my goal to just keep surfing. No matter what happened, what I had to do, just keep surfing. There were days I either didn’t catch any waves, or when I couldn’t get past the waves due to the pure force of the swell pushing me outwards. But my goal was always one: keep surfing. No matter who I was to be, what kind of surfer I was to become, I would always keep surfing.

Of course, I always hoped and prayed that all my efforts would expand and propel me further than just paddling around. I still remember the weekend of April 4 2011, when I stumbled on some beautiful waves. Every keen surfer was out far into the surf, and there was a wave to be caught at ever interval. It was one big sweep after another, that you either floated through or it caught you and took you for a very long ride. I remember being out very very far from shore, a mixture of anxiety and excitement, waiting for this big swell to pick me up and sweep me onto my feet. I remember the wave passing through so many people, but it picked me up and before I knew it I was up on my board riding the wave towards shore for what seemed a blissful eternity!

One of the best memories of surfing as yet.

Of course then you have blah days when nothing special picks you up and there is no real swell to speak for. But I love every moment. Someone once said that life is made up of moments, and every one moment surfing has been Zen-like for me. I can credit surfing for making me like peaceful, serene, for giving me strength and conviction. And grace. There is nothing more graceful than to ride a wave to shore. To fight the tide, the wind, the wave mechanics, your own bodily limitations and just sail to shore.

Learning a new trick or achieving a new level in surfing is wonderful and makes the journey worthwhile, but it is in those small moments that you can truly appreciate how far you have come to achieve what you have achieved. Every wipeout, every bruise, every cut, every surfboard knock. But you never stop surfing. You pursue it more. Because, each time, you hope to move closer to the destination and cherish more each moment that drove you there.

Copyright SoulSurfer © 4 October 2011 at 6.44pm

You own the moment...

The amazing thing about surfing, is that you only have the wave…

You own the moment…

You master the present time…

In a few seconds, you have all that is going for you everything and all that is going against you; you sum together your mind, body and soul to seize the opportunity that you behold. You accept you are the master of the wave and a slave to its power and force.  

It doesn’t get much closer to this in real life!

Kelly Slater on owning the moment:

“I think the real Zen of surfing for me, it’s just an in the moment thing completely, as the wave presents itself, you deal with what’s possible, and what is asked of you to do…you find that line, you find the timing…when you do a flip at one section, it just sets you up for the next section perfectly.

There is a connection between people and the environment…that when its done the right way, when you someone link things together on a wave the right way, its like that thing already existed, that’s exactly what was supposed to happen”

Courtesy of “Kelly Slater: Mind Body Surf: Mind Episode” by Quiksilver

Copyright © SoulSurfer 21 September 2011 at 8.42pm

DO WHAT YOU LOVE

It seems the eye of the storm is the perfect place to ponder life. And Sunday afternoon in Manly proved to be the perfect place to be awed by Mother Nature’s beauty and splendour.

Picture this: about two dozen surfers scattered across the choppy and grey-hued sea, desperately competing against each other to catch the remnants of a decent days’ surf. It was about 5.30pm, when Mark and I stopped in our tracks and looked above. What happened over the course of the next 15 minutes was breathtaking.

The surfers continued to paddle towards the kamikaze waves, but our focus had shifted to the sky above. These pictures are simply beautiful. A grey sky melting into yellow across the skyline, finally being lit up with a magnificent red glow from the west. In one place rain began to fall and develop, but on the sunny side the sun struggled back into the spotlight to reveal a beautiful, full-arched, luminuous rainbow, which then cast its Technicolour shadow on the droopy and heavy clouds. The effect was a rainbow glow of light scattered across the clouds.

The photos below.

So Mark and I stopped on one conclusion: focus on doing what you love, and aim to improve yourself in what you love everyday. You only have one life, and the skills, passions and talents you have received in this life to enjoy and experience are unique to YOU only. Aim to be better than yourself everyday. Spend more time giving time to your passions and hobbies. Like Kelly Slater, aim for perfection in your craft over accolades and recognition. Be the best you can be in what you love.

 Life opens up doorways to those who are truly in sync with their life’s purpose. When you dedicate yourself to your passion, your cup is full and overflows; you learn to give to others willingly and selflessly. You cannot give if you are not self-full first.

 The first step lies in giving into your passion. Life is really what you make of it, and if you are in line with your purpose, JUST THINK of what lies ahead for you!

If you are not in line with your purpose, you are not contributing conscientiously to this world. And if you are not contributing conscientiously to this world, you are wasting your time here.

Let us go, and DO WHAT WE LOVE!

Copyright © SoulSurfer 9 August 2011 at 8.43pm

Chasing passion…seek your own swell

The Billabong Pro J-Bay 2011 just came to an end in Jeffrey’s Bay, South Africa on Sunday. To say the least, the surf was pitiful. Not the most captivating waves for pro surfers to showcase their prowess on. Nevertheless, there were some decent swells, and homegrown surfer Jordy Smith took out the title. Once again, we realise Mother Nature is the driving force behind the beauty (and at times savageness) of the sport.

But one very prominent figure was decidedly absent from the competition; Kelly Slater. The favorite for the 2011 title, was chasing his own thrills on the amazing swells exploding onto the shores of Tavi, Fiji. Just for fun really…

It made me think about chasing our passions in life. Would you ever leave at lunchtime from work if you knew any epic swell was about to sweep your nearest beach? What about going overseas to see your favorite band, whom you never seen live? Or taking a break from your rigid schedule to do something you really want to do with your time?

Just like Kelly, we really need to chase passion more often in our lives. If you have something that really captures your intrigue, something you love doing, something that fills your life with purpose, you need to be catching that wave. And you need to be doing it as much as possible. Life is too short to be stuck in the lowly swells of J-Bay, when you could be screaming “Yeehaaa!!” from the bow of a massive one in Tavi.

We feel too obligated in life to do the “should” “could” “would”, but need to do more of the “I want” and “I need”. Our dreams and passions are never really gone; they just slowly die inside of us, until we feel unmotivated to do anything; the compulsory or the voluntary.

Instead we need to keep the flame of passion and purpose burning. Even the busiest people find time to do what they love (hey, even a world champion), and in turn fulfilling their purpose drives them to continue onwards. Once you step into your passion, life becomes easier because the engine of success and happiness is churning along effortlessly. Passions also highlight your strengths and give you confidence to succeed in all areas of life.

So really, do you have an hour a day to INVEST in yourself? Do you have the mental space to tune out and connect with your purpose? Can you honour and reward yourself enough to just do what you love?

If you don’t, no one else will kindly do it for you.

Invest in YOU.

Seek your own swell...


Copyright SoulSurfer © 27 July 2011 at 9.09pm

A wave of respect; a surfer’s take on Mother Nature

When you first begin surfing, you plonk your long, heavy foam board in the water, fighting white water, as you rehearse in your mind the few simple steps just learnt to go from prone to standing in a flash…

Each approaching ripple in the water fills you with excitement, your arms dipped in the water, ready to furiously paddle and feel the momentum pushing you forward. If you manage to find your feet (and balance) and stand up for a few photo-worthy seconds, then surfing success has been achieved.

My first few surfing practices were attempts to master and improve on this simple formula. I reminded myself it took all of three minutes for the surfing instructor to explain the procedure, but as he then revealed, before I embarked on a fairly successful wave, “It takes years to become a good surfer”. Wow… my ride quickly ended when I found myself entangled in a bunch of menacing seaweed.

But I emerged victorious and inspired. I wanted more. I found myself perfectly aware that bridging the gap between kook and wave-thrasher was not going to be an easy task. And I loved it. I was the animal on the hunt for a chase, and decided to meet my match in the ocean. A duel with Mother Nature.

Of course, you quickly realise just how out of your depth (to use a pun) you really are. Not only is your 30-second intro to surfing a pretty flimsy one, but you are confronted with a force that is as capricious as well, the weather.

There were days I would quietly snub the lack of waves under my board, arrogantly hoping “I could finally get a decent surf in”, only on other days, to be ready to paddle and stand, and be thoroughly mangled and ripped to shreds by a violent rip. Bikini and I – parted by the sea.

If you see surfing as sexy, it’s hard to be sexy when your hair is salt-laden, hanging over your face in dreadlocks, and it’s quite possible you just mooned a bunch of surfers who had time to catch the wave and also you - not catching it. It’s funny, it’s embarrassing, it’s painful. That board also does a fair amount of impact when you are on the wrong side of it. Ouch.

And then, “but I want more”…

 

If you manage to continue surfing after the bruises, the nose dives, the spectacular screw ups and disrobements, you begin to appreciate one thing – this is Mother Nature’s territory. This is a playground that can be placid and pleasurable in a moment, only to unleash fury and force similar to a natural disaster in an instant. Because we are only human with our little boards and boards do break. Think of what can happen to a surfer then…

This is what you come to realise if you truly appreciate surfing. I don’t mean in a spectator kind of way. When you embody surfing, you submit with respect to the power of Mother Nature and accept that you are not riding the wave, the wave is riding you. As time goes on, you recognize that the simple surfing formula is the same, the only difference between catching the miniscule and momentous waves is your approach. Like a Buddhist monk, you approach your master with deeper and more involved insights, when the time is right. Once you have become enlightened to do so.

Surfing is the same – catching a wave is a mix of privilege and prowess. You stake your claim to the world, possibly riding out towards jaws dropped or sly sneers. It’s competitive, it’s raw, it’s spiritual. It’s surfing.

And I, in all my kook-iness, am honoured to be in this world. In a world where as Kelly Slater, world number one, points out “…surfers get to experience a lot more highs than normal people.”

Copyright © 7 June 2011 10.31pm SoulSurfer