Took the clan(-) to Pipes, a local surfer breakfast establishment in Cardiff up the coast road this morning after church. Was dressed in my grey flannel, wasn’t I? And I didn’t care who knew it. Sat down to dine on a breakfast sandwich with the rest of us and noticed a poster behind me showing a surfer coming down the face of a 52 foot wave. It looked… terrifying.
And on that poster these words were printed:
“What if your dreams and fears existed in the same place?
What if to get to heaven you had to brave hell?
What if everything you’d ever wanted would cost you everything you’ve ever achieved?
Would you still go there?”
I’m not a surfer. But these are pretty good questions.
Ugh. Hard to consider, that a surfer would ask the most appropriate questions. But, I suppose, such is the world that we live in, eh?
Hey Lex -
Completely off topic but apparently one of your mob threw a Hornet of some description over the side on the way away from Brisbane.
Any idea what happened? I just heard a brief news snippet on the radio this morning.
Oh yes, I would go there. Have been there, several times for various reasons and desires. And as tough as the trip might be, the end result is always ultimately satisfying, even if it’s not exactly what you wanted or thought it would be. My favorite quote of all time sums it up: “Two roads diverged in a wood, and I – I took the one less traveled by and that has made all the difference.” My deepest thank you’s to Robert Frost, for giving me a mantra with which to live my life.
Got the phone call on that Sim, but not the details. Ramp strike apparently. The pilot ejected and survived, but the jet went over the side.
Pity.
My son, the Prowler guy, was on the LSO platform and said:
” F-18 Ramp strike, Everyone ok. Not something I care to see again”.
Said he couldn’t share details yet. As it should be.
Good news on the pilot; bad news for the plane.
As for the quotes… I’m headed down that 52 foot wave right now, myself. It sucks ass. I’m scared shitless, and I hope the landing on the beach is a lot softer than the wave I’m riding in on.
I?ɬ
I’m turning 42 shortly and I came away with a different take, maybe because I broke each statement down. Here’s what I came up with…
1) What if your dreams and fears existed in the same place? They do – they are my kids. My greatest dreams are in them as are my worst fears (what if one of them died, etc.). This probably seems lame, unless you have kids.
2) What if to get to heaven you had to brave hell? Setting aside the whole religious thing and looking at what I consider heaven…when I look back, I come to the day 8 years ago when I was told I had cancer, just as my first child turned 1. At that time I considered heaven surviving to see her reach adult-hood and, specifically, being able to walk her down the aisle and give her away at her wedding – and I still do. I’ve been lucky so far, with treatment I don’t have any symptoms and am quite healthy. I now have a son too and I would go through any hell you can name to reach that goal of surviving so I could continue to help raise my kids.
3) What if everything you’d ever wanted would cost you everything you’ve ever achieved? I kept reading this question and it’s asking if you’re willing to throw away everything you’ve done and become for…what? I think this depends highly on what you’ve become so far. For me, I cannot think of anything in life that I want that would be worth turning 180 out from all that I have now. Maybe I’m dumb or maybe I’m lucky – I prefer to think the latter.
Thanks for giving me something to ponder while on my morning run, Lex.
Brian
Brian, I agree with you on #3. I just couldn’t quite figure that out. Although there’s a lot about my life I’d like to change right now, I can’t imagine what would be worth everything. I suppose the only way something could be worth giving up everything else would be if everything else (be it character, family, achievement, experiences) wasn’t worth having in the first place.
I’m just not sure I “get” that one…
I think the question has something to do with risk: What would you really let go to get to where you want to be: Would you push away from the raft of comfortable habit to arrive at the shore of heart’s desire?
It is a hard question, because it hits us all at different places in our lives, and with different people who depend upon us.
Maybe it’d be easier for a single, 20-something surfer
Shipmates,
I think that #3 was written by someone who is single. It seems to me that the one asking the question has never had anyone depending upon him or her for everything , or even for just something.
I have three wonderful children, and what kind of example would I be seeting for them, what lesson would I trach them, were I to give it all away, including them, to go off for that one thing I’ve always wanted or dreamed of?
There is no dream of mine so great, so worthwhile, that it would withstand the pain I would suffer by leaving my family to fend for themselves, by walking away for something so venal and self-serving as personal gratification, which is what the questioner is proposing.
It’s easy to dream of things, and I most certainly do, but the faces of my kids always bring me back around, and remind me that mine is a life shared with them. I wouldn’t have it any other way just now. There may well come a time when they are grown and can fend for themselves where I decide to strike out on some new adventure. But not just yet.
Respects to all,
Tim AW1(former)
And it may be Tim that you’re already there, and don’t need to give anything up to get to your heart’s desire.
That’s a good place to be. Hold on tight.
Had a 7 foot, pintail thruster with tri-skegs and deckwork that I used to surf Onefre and Trestles, sometimes making a trip down south to Blacks Beach…
My platoon sergeant used an 11 foot rhino chaser.
He once told me:
“Hesitate, and your worst fears will come true…” which seems to echo Miyamoto Musashi’s admontion: “Make your decisions within the space of seven breaths. Regardless of whether it is the correct, or incorrect decision, it must be made…”
Black’s Beach, huh? Hmmm…
Shipmates,
My apologies for any typos in the above post and any others I might have done. I’m currently recovering from eye surgery (I managed to detach both retinas) and sometimes I miss a key here and there.
I’ll try and proof read before posting.. sigh ..
Respects to all,
Tim AW1 (former)
Yep, Black’s Beach… Nice break, sandy bottom at times, and not a bad tide… Located under the San Diego Hang Glider Port, and the site of a nude beach…
Trust me, the scenery was better offshore…
FBL, why did YOU ping on “Black’s Beach” so snarkily? The world wants to know… *grin*
FBL, why did YOU ping on “Black?ɬ
FBL, why did YOU ping on “Black’s Beach” so snarkily? The world wants to know… *grin*
Well, for one thing, I called SD home for about a decade…. But the reason I know about Black’s Beach in particular is that my church youth group (young teens/pre-teens) went out to see the tidal pools one Saturday afternoon and explored a little too far. A group of girls and a chaperone wandered around the corner of a rocky outcropping and encountered a man subathing–laying on his back and naked as a jaybird. I was not one of the group, but the consensus was that he must’ve been thinking happy thoughts…
i can not believe the first comment on this page. why question why a surfer would ask these questions. obviously your not a surfer cause otherwise youd know surfers are some of the most spiritual people on earth and so in tune with life. i received this poster while going through a time of depression and it played a major part in my turning point. as it sat on my bedroom wall i read it everyday and slowly began to understand that the peom sums up that there are choices and consequences for everything. i was depressed because i chose to see the world in such a cynical way. i just had to equalize it out, fears – dreams, heaven – hell, getting what you want is an acheivement in itself, no drug can beat the high of adrenalin, of course id go there. you have to take the risk to feel the rush
the surfer is taylor knox at todos santos.
i have the poster its the no fear team slogan.