Be Brave! Ride the Wave!

I have never been on a surf board, and I am not sure that it will ever happen, but I do like playing around in the ocean.   While the waves are beautiful as they come crashing onto the shore, the ocean is powerful and we need to recognize signs and understand some basic rules in order to be safe.

If you are caught in a riptide, allow it to take you away from the shore until you are beyond the pull of the current, generally 50 to 100 yards from shore and then swim parallel to the shore and before heading back to the shore.

If the water quickly recedes from the shore, it might be a tsunami, evacuate immediately away from the beach.  Heed the warning signs.

The stronger the wave, the faster and farther we can travel.  This is true with both surfing on a board and body surfing.  It is definitely more exhilarating to catch the big waves, but if you haven’t been taught how to surf, you can be smashed into the rocks or the sand.  When you see a big wave approaching, wait until it is about to break over the top of you, and dive directly into the wall of water.  Be brave.  If you do that, you will emerge on the other side of the wave, riding toward the beach, and not crash into the sand or rocks.  Surfing accidents can be tragic and yet playing in the water is exhilarating and supposed to be fun.

Our lives can be filled with incredible, amazing experiences, however we can get hurt if we don’t pay attention to the instructions.  We can get caught in difficult and even personally dangerous situations.

Sometimes we need to dive right into the middle of the intense situation we are facing and other times, we need to evacuate immediately and head quickly in the opposite direction.  Other times we might need to float along for a while, not fighting against the strong currents in our lives, before making our move to turn away slightly before returning toward our safe goal.

It takes experience to know which is the best decision for the situation.  If you are concerned about the tough situation you are in, evaluate it to see if it is truly something you can surf successfully by just diving in or is it a tsunami to run away from or perhaps a rip-tide to stay in for awhile before you slowly move away then head to safety.

I love going to the beach.  I have learned life lessons by watching activities along the shoreline.

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