What a Magical South Swell Taught Me About Life

setting the stage.

I have recently been inspired through a great post by AJ Leon, titled “A Case For Travelling Slowly“, and a very insightful facebook post by Srinivas Rao, “Making Each Day your Masterpiece“. AJ and Srini share heartfelt experiences that illustrate the power of living in the moment, embracing every experience, and ensuring that we don’t let life pass us by with our heads down in the busy day to day.

I had a profound experience one evening in Mexico that helped me appreciate the two posts above, here is the story of what I will always remember as a Magical Mexican South Swell…

It taught me that “magic happens when you realize it’s not all about the money, status, routine, or comfort zone…” (Tweet this quote)

the journey begins.

For most of the week upon arriving at our beautiful all inclusive in Punta de Mita Mexico, my mind never really stopped “running”. I knew I had free’d up my schedule enough to relax, and yet my mind kept racing.

What do I need to be doing for all the projects on the go? What prep work do I need to do for upcoming keynotes? How am I going to get all of my Crossfit training in? On and on and on.

I have talked about letting go and living in the moment a lot here- and so I was acutely aware of the fact that my mind wasn’t slowing down – this was a challenging and exhausting realization.

then one evening I had a breakthrough…

All week there had been traces of “South Swell” in the water. For those of you who aren’t as familiar with surfing on the West coast of North America, good south swells are always to be taken seriously and met with anticipation and excitement. There are a lot of conditions that need to align to really make these swells ‘show up’, but when they do they bring beautifully groomed 6-15 wave sets that stack the horizon… A surfer’s dream.

This south swell in particular had moved into the water earlier in the day, but was being knocked down and beaten up by the very strong (unfavorable) on-shore winds . What could be bold 8-10 foot faces were being turned into crumbly and humbled 4-5 foot mush. Despite the wind, there were some signs in the early evening as I walked off the beach that the swell was continuing to build to 7-9 foot sets – immediately a sense of dissapointment overtook me, thinking that the wind would ruin the peak of this swell.

I headed back up to the resort to change as Tash’s family had booked professional family pictures for sunset at 6:30 up on the highest bluff overlooking the ocean.

It was a stunning evening with a beautiful sunset, and as we walked up to the lookout point on the bluff, I made an important observation… I didn’t feel any wind … Wait, I did feel a light breeze, but it was coming from behind me, and heading out to the ocean (off shore winds are good for surfing!)  – this was a 180 degree shift from the day’s strong onshore winds.

the energy of anticipation.

My heart starting beating faster as we walked out to get our first look at the ocean and the sunset, I thought maybe the conditions were improving. Alas, I was slightly disappointed as I saw the ocean still looked a bit messy, and the waves looked average (South swells are notorious for having long “lulls” or going very flat for as long as 30 minutes in between set waves). I reminded myself that the hope of the winds turning off-shore and the waves getting super glass was a little bit too much to ask.

We returned to taking pictures. My mind slipping back into the routine of busyness – what work needed to be done that night, where were we going to perform our Crossfit Open workout the next day… On and on and on.

Then, after about 10 minutes, I saw it.

In between posing for photos I caught a glimpse of the open ocean in my peripheral vision. At first I noticed that the sea had calmed down, as if being rocked to sleep, it was looking calm and glassy.

Then I noticed the lines…

Far off the see, first one, than 2, than 4, 6, 8, 10, 12. Lining up and marching in a collision course with the mainland were perfectly formed lines, as long as you could see!

South swell – showing up in it’s majesty.

Now my heart was beginning to race, it was only a matter of time before these seemingly small lumps put on a show right in front of our eyes. I realized that the forces of nature were about to do an incredible dance us surfers live for. I was suddenly transformed into a different world – unable to unglue my eyes from the ocean, I would later reflect that in this moment I was liberated from every care in the world.

As the graceful small army of swell lines marched it’s way towards the lineup, I noticed that the surfers in the water had just caught their first glimpse of what was approaching (not having the same vantage point as us on the bluff). They were unprepared for the dance that was about to unfold. In sync, I watched as all the small tadpole like surfers scratched for the “outside”, trying to position themselves to take part and at the very least avoid being caught between the wrath of the wave and the hard reef below.

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As the waves started to stand up and show off their true stature, I realized I could not have cared about another thing in the world, I could not be distracted by any client, the keynote coming up, or the next opportunity. I had also clearly (regrettably) checked out of the portrait taking. I was 100% connected with this beautiful moment mother nature was providing.

When the conditions align, and the right swell meets the right reef, and the winds show up (light off shore) it is one of the most amazing shows that nature can put on. The glass coated wave continues to build and build, standing up and showing it’s impressive stature, like a grizzly bear ready for battle. But before the wave unloads in a fit of furry – the winds step up to play their star role. As the face of the wave grows, it is increasingly affected by the wind that is blowing out to sea. This causes a “feathering” of spray that begins blowing off the top of the wave. While this may seem insignificant, both it’s affect on the wave, causing it to stand up for an extra moment, and the stallion like mane that charges off the back of the wave, are incredible to witness.

And so for the next 2 minutes I watched in silence as wave after wave stood up, charged the reef in a blaze of glory, and then bowed as it unleashed it’s energy at the peak of the reef, and then proceeded to run down the coast southwards until it meets dry land.

The sun was now going down but I knew I would make it out – I had to make it out!

To sit in the lineup and feel the presence of these giants.

By this point Tash knew I had to do this, and she gracefully excused me from the photoshoot (did you forget about that too?). With a smile she told me I needed to get out there. What a women! Needless to say in the next 5 minutes I had sprinted back to my room, got changed, grabbed my board, ran down to the beach and paddled the 200+ yards out to the now “firing” lineup. The next hour was a blur of “being in the flow”, not a care in the world but being in position when the next 10 foot face shows up to play on the horizon. Every 20 minutes I prepared myself to join that set wave in a magical dance, taking off as deep as possible and sceaming up and down the open face of the wave only to end up 100 yards down the beach in a matter of seconds.

It was pure bliss.

I later found out that the nights session had been one of the best in several years. I realized how importance it was that I was able to drop absolutely everything on my mind and on the go and fully embrace this rare moment.

the REAL journey begins.

There are these moments in life where you realize its not all about the job, or the status, or the money, or the routine. That in those moments we have a choice to let go of everything and embrace the experience, or to choose to let it pass us by. I can easily say that night was one of the highlights of the trip and surfing highlights of my life. I will continue to choose to embrace these moments in my life regardless of the circumstances or preoccupations… I am a better, more vibrant person in this world because of it.

your turn.

Do you have a life changing experience where you were truly in the moment or in the flow? I would LOVE to hear it!