When I teach yoga, there is always a theme...a "lesson" that we work through. I feel that whenever I go surfing that Mother Nature has a similar 'lesson' for me, the theme of which is constantly changing. Today's lesson was patience. When I paddled out at first light the lineup was already crowded. There were heaps of inexperienced surfers in the water, all sitting in the wrong place- making the surf a bit more challenging and dangerous than usual. The tide was super low and the waves were small, so they were breaking over very very shallow and sharp reef. And finally, there were more than a handful of locals in the water, who whether they are in position or not consider all of the waves Their waves. Instead of getting frustrated with the lack of surf etiquette and my close-encounters with the reef, I made the choice to just relax into the current situation. As I settled into patience I found myself more at peace than I would normally be in such a case. I created "waiting" into just "being"....allowing this time to be for chatting it up with fellow surfers and floating in the tame sea as opposed to anxiously awaiting the (infrequent) sets. Well patience paid off because about an hour after being in the water more than half the people got out- locals heading for work and tourists heading for breakfast. The wind was still light and as the tide filled in so did the waves, with the sets being a bit more frequent and a little bit bigger than early morning. And now the few people that were in the lineup were my new friends thanks to the mornings elements which encouraged me to socialize. We hooted each other into the waves and yipped and yelled when someone didn't make it past the section. All in all, a beautiful session and yet another lesson learned. Grateful.
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