Surfing in Raglan

June 11, 2011

i just went surfing!!!!!!!!!!  Can you believe it?  I did it!  I was so nervous and I think if I tried it again I would be nervous again, but I’m so glad I tried it!  I definitely want to do it again too!

I was the only person on the bus who wanted to go surfing.  I was not about to pass it up even though I was nervous about it.  I came all this way and I was going to try to surf!  

I have a couple surfers on my dream board at home.  I didn’t really know why they were on there, but there they were.  I never really had a desire to go before, but once they were on the board I wanted to try it.  

Have you ever tried something you were scared to do?  Or you were afraid, but did it anyway!  Have you ever dreamed of doing something for a long time and then actually got the chance to do it?  It is so fulfilling.  Dreams coming true have to be one of the best experiences in life.  

I wasn’t even deterred when no one else wanted to try.  It was probably better anyway because I got a private lesson.  My instructor’s name was Chris.  He showed me a few things about surfing before we even went to the beach.  He showed me how to lay on the board, and how to stand up on the board.

I’d never worn a wet suit before either.  He picked one out for me and we drove to the beach.  (With a little detour to take some guys walking on the road into town.)  At the beach I changed into the wet suit and we carried our boards down to the beach.  I got to practice again getting on the board and standing up while we were on the sand.  Then it was straight into the water we went.

I was so nervous when we got out there far and the waves seemed so big.  Plus every time a wave came at me I got salty water in my eyes to go along with the sun that was staring me straight on.  Before I knew it Chris turned me around and I was facing the beach.  “Paddle, paddle, paddle!” he said and the wave began to pound on my feet.  The wave carried me in and then Chris instructed me when to stand up.  

My first two tries were miserable and I fell right into the water.  On the third try I went a bit slower and got up on it.  I was so tired already though so we took a break so I could get the salt water out of my eyes and take a rest.

As we sat on the board on the beach, Chris explained that it is all a head game.  I have to be in control of the wave and not let it control me.  We tried again and I got up way better on the board and floated for a while before falling off.  The next few times weren’t so great.

Then I got a cramp so we took another rest.  I was so shaken from being tired and nervous.  But I didn’t want to give up yet.  So we went out again.  I still feared the big waves coming for me, but I just kept on trying.  It did start to get a bit easier.  I wiped out a few more times.  Then I finally got up on the board and really stood there for a while and floated in.  I almost made it right for the beach!!!!

We decided to end there on a high note and the lesson was over.  But I can’t tell you the way it makes me feel to have accomplished something like that.  It was so foreign and strange and so good!  To have tried something so out of my comfort zone and learned something new just lights a fire under me.  It lifts up my self-esteem.  I feel so good about myself and I feel better than the others because I tried it!  I feel so confident!  It’s an amazing feeling!  Yay!  Praise God!