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Take A Chance
Take
a chance on catching the largest waves of your life.
You will experience something you cannot get anywhere
else or purchase with money; a chance to expand your
mind, reality and self-awareness. A chance to experience
personal growth and God's glory by living life to the
fullest.
On the other hand, there is always the chance of a wipeout.
The possibility of having your board break, getting
hurt, never coming up or all three at the same time.
Anything can happen during a wipeout. This is the time
when a person is completely out of control. Everything
at this point is uncertain destiny.
Cars lined up for miles. Hundreds of people surrounded
the cliffs watching as a handful of intrepid surfers
dared to surf the large and powerful oncoming west swells.
For those experiencing being out in the ocean among
the energy of the giant waves, it was exhilarating,
somewhat ethereal and in a sense spiritual. After surfing
another once-in-a-lifetime wave, a lone surfer paddling
back out was suddenly faced with every surfer's nightmare.
A massive outside wave barreling in, impossible to get
over or around. In surfer's lingo, it's getting caught
inside or cleaned up.
The thickness of the whole ocean was like a thousand
tons of concrete getting ready to fall on top of the
surfer. There was just enough time to take a quick breath
before bailing off the board. While making an attempt
to dive below the surface, the crest of the wave came
guillotining down, sending him directly to the bottom
of the ocean. With 20 feet of wave exploding overhead,
he was now 40 feet deep. Compounding the situation after
descending to the ocean floor, his foot had become wedged
within the rocks of the reef. In this case the surfer
knew and practiced the ABCs of surfing -Always Be Cool.
Calmly pulling his foot free from the grip of the reef
and using the other to push off the bottom, he kept
composed. Slowly swimming to the surface for air, he
stayed relaxed the whole time.
Lo and behold a foot or two of saltwater separated the
surfer from the sweet taste of oxygen.
Another
20-foot wave crashed down, spiraling the surfer once
more to the bottom like a plunger in a toilet bowl.
Staying cool, this surfer kept his mind solely focused
on making it. There had to be a chance. In surfing this
is called a two-wave hold-down. Fortunately the surfer
was able to survive, stayed out and continued to ride
with even more confidence as the worst had already happened.
When others see photographs of this day, they are awe-inspired.
Seeing surfers on huge surfboards dwarfed by rapidly
moving mountains of water evokes the spirit of human
conquest, confidence and faith. One must keep in mind
that in every victory, every pursuit, one first had
to take a chance. When it comes to personal challenge,
the bigger the chance the greater the reward.
The secret to taking chances is to stack the odds in
your favor to the degree you can. If you are prepared
to handle and learn when things don't go your way, you
will benefit regardless of the outcome. To catch the
biggest and best waves of your life, you have to take
chances. You take a chance just getting off the beach
to paddle out. Every step of the way, every moment there
is challenge inside of chance. No longer lingering over
our shoulders, chance and destiny meet face to face.
Sometimes more change happens in a split second than
in 10,000 years.
Australian
surfing gypsy Robbie Page maintains when your surfing
waves, if your not occasionally falling off, your not
progressing. He reckons it's through taking chances
that skill levels and ability rise. Breakthroughs occur
through taking chances. Even when things seem not to
work out, they do work out if you remain positive. An
example would be surfer musician Jack Johnson. Growing
up in front of the famous pipeline in Hawaii, Johnson
was a surfing prodigy. At 14 he was surfing in a professional
event when his face collided with the infamous pipeline
bottom, resulting in over 100 stitches. Not being able
to surf during the healing time, Johnson took another
chance. He developed other interests and tried new things.
Johnson pursued filmmaking and music. The rest is history.
Johnson creates award winning films and is one of the
hottest musical artists of this generation. His life
continues to revolve around surfing and riding waves.
An
interesting side bar is that some people thrive on wipeouts.
Jose Angel, who appeared on the first cover of Surfer
magazine, enjoyed wiping out. He is not alone. There
was a young boy who tried surfing for the first time.
His first few waves went perfectly, with wobbly yet
great rides. On or about his third wave it happened.
He went diving for pearls. In other words, while dropping
into the wave, the front of his board dove into the
water, catapulting him forward and down (one of the
worst ways to wipeout). When he came, up he had an indescribable
look on his face and his eyes were as big as saucers.
Was he shocked or frightened? No, he was stoked. He
went out and caught 10 more waves, purposely wiping
out on every one. The fear of wiping out that keeps
some people from going for it in life, gave him passion
that he will have with him for a lifetime.
The
wise man knows, "Its not death that should be feared,
but a life not lived." Take a chance on life. It's
through taking chances major personal growth, knowledge
and advancement take place. Believe in and trust yourself.
Life is a chance. Take a chance. Sea you in the surf.
The
Willis Bros. are surfing experts recognized for surfing
the worlds largest waves and teaching thousands in Hawaii
and California to surf.
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