What I learnt when I was supposed to be learning how to surf
Conclusion: Learning
I was really fortunate to have been able to take up an opportunity like this. I realise that something like this is not neccessarily available to all, and not everyone can actually make use of it. So while I have the privelege to be able to avail this, I also have a duty, in some cosmic sense, to actually make the most use of it. I hope I was able to fulfill that.
I came in with the expectation that I would get to learn to surf. That’s not really easy to answer that with an absolute. Surfing is not like riding a bicycle, where you learn to do it, and then you just can. A binary; yes or no. Surfing is more like dancing. There is always more to learn, more to do, more to improve. I’d guess you can say I have set out on my journey to becoming a surfer, but it’s only the start.
However, what I really got out of this journey, was everything else apart from what I learnt standing on a board in the ocean. I learnt the value of discomfort. How getting out of my comfort zone primed my mind for learning lessons of all kinds. I learnt a lot about people. The way they talk, the way they think, the way they react when being flung off their boards for the fifth consecutive time.
More than anything, I learnt about myself. I learnt that I can push myself beyond the limits I had lazily set. I learnt that I am capable of some truly wondrous things. I learnt that I have the capability to actually become the kind of person that I aspire to be.
And the most of all, I learnt that a single month can transform your life.