Paddle as if there is no tomorrow. To get to the inside, you must endure against breaking waves, to catch a wave, you must employ your full potence. Persistence, stubbornness, obstination. The say ‘never, never give up’ previously latent in my soul has been actualized and now it is just... reality.

Mind your own business. Surfing can be assimilated to a marathon. Advice from other people helps but in the end of the day it is the strategy and pace derived from your own experience that counts for getting you to the finish line. When moving restless from breaking point to breaking point, I waste my energy and catch no waves. When stopping looking around, choosing and staying in a spot suitable to my board and my skill level, suddenly my own garden was greener than my neighbours. Taken it at surfing, taken it at life.    

Don’t wait for the perfect wave. First, because it does not exist, second, because it delays your learning curve. Practice makes perfection. If you are too picky, you have less opportunities to practice. Drop, drop, drop... small wave, big wave, weird wave. That is the magic: practice and all is coming. Point checked at my love life, work life, and why not, after life?   

When you go, go! If you doubt yourself, you increase your chances of crashing plus you may not be given a second chance. Confidence is key to focus, courage, balance. If you lack it, respect, don’t go. But if you do go, then feel like a wonder woman, a superman, believe that this is your train, you can’t miss it. It is always better to try and fail than never give it a go. Beliefs ingrained in my core.   

To be continued...