Sun shines thru the window and hits the pillow where my eyes lay. Salty air filters into my lungs and the lingering smell of last night’s leftovers seeps into the bedroom. Like any other day, I glance out at the tattered flag and check the wind. Offshore. The tide clock is reading mid tide and from the surf report, the swell looks to be filling in. One call later and I am out of bed, in a bikini, and chugging a glass of water.
As soon as my toes hit the sand an immediate sense of relief washes over my body. A casual nod to the ones who have gotten out of bed just a few minutes before my feet hit the floor, is the only ‘Hello’ needed. Paddling out the calmness overtakes me and the sight of a good friend in the line-up awakens my soul. I’m not sure if surfing makes you a better person, but it certainty did for me.
After a session in the water you feel calm, collected, empowered, and ready to take on the world. Surfing isn’t just a sport it is a lifestyle. At Chica Brava we have compiled five reasons surfing makes you a better person.
1.Surfing makes you a happier person.
Happiness is created from the inside, and projected outward. Have you ever met a surfer who wasn’t happy and living their true self? After your first ride happiness will spill from you soul and will leaving you wanting for more. Surfing allows for you to relax on your own or to hang with other members of the tribe, all while maintaining your individuality. Try sitting in the sun for just five minutes, your body is warmed from the outside. Combine this with the ocean and never ending waves, it is a recipe for happiness.
2. Surfing will humble you.
It only takes one really good wipeout to feel the power of the ocean. Humbling, is paddling for a wave and wiping out a thousand times, but continuing to try to ride the massive wall behind you. Humbling, is sitting in the line-up alone and seeing a dark shadow past underneath your board, and realizing it’s just a dolphin. Surfing will humble you, it will leave you feeling defeated, while at the same time empowered. It can teach you, one moment the ocean is calm and the next filled with fury.
3. Surfing prepares you for change.
Each wave is different, and there will never be another one exactly like the last. The constant change of the ocean is a mirror to life. Today will be different than yesterday and tomorrow. Surfing has so many factors wind, swell, tide, etc. it is almost impossible to have the same wave ever again. And this is what makes the sport enjoyable, the constant change and the unknown.
4. Surfing teaches you to care about the environment.
As in life surfing correlates to everything in and out of the water. Seeing that plastic bag swirling in the air down the beach, you can’t help but cringe knowing it might be Mr. Fish’s next meal. Watching the sewer drain into the ocean, you can already feel the dirty water washing over your body. Surfing teaches you to be aware of your surroundings because that plastic bag the fish ate will soon be your next meal. Beach clean ups and laws on littering will be your next dinner debate.
5. Surfing will empower you.
Surfing has a unique ability to empower you in and out of the water. Catching an over-head wave on top of a shallow reef break on the weekend, and driving to the office on Monday is the ultimate power trip. While your coworkers have their bar-b-que’s and lounge by the pool, you will leave the beach feeling empowered and refreshed knowing you just conquered the waves.
Coming in for the day and returning to the normality that is life, I look down; my body covered in sand, my hair is thrashed to the side, and my mind is completely clear. My time out in the ocean is a time of meditation and devotion to me and to the environment that made me, the sea. Each wave rolls in, it rolls in with the sole intention to finish it’s journey. The question is, will you be on it as it journeys in or will you be waiting for the next?