I wanted to come up with an inclusive word that I could use to describe all of the people I have coached. The word I came upon is…SURFER. We are all searching for something in our lives that gives us a sense of purpose and meaning in our lives. We are on this quest to discover who we are and why we are here. We are all wondering about something that we are either missing or feel incomplete about in ourselves. We are often anxious about what happens next in our lives and how that will unfold.

What I have learned as a coach is that we struggle the most with riding the wave that we are currently on because of our fixation with the past or our concerns about the future outcome. We may be riding the wave at its crest, the highpoint for a while until we realize we are being successful. Suddenly we realize that we are having success and we become scared. We are unfamiliar with this new feeling and we are uncomfortable with it as well. It feels weird and strange and we want to return to what is known and familiar to us. We find ways to sabotage our success. We start falling off the board because we aren’t deserving of success. We put ourselves back in the water where we can belong and be accepted by the other surfers who have fallen off of their boards. We feel like we don’t deserve to ride the crest because others have told us we are not deserving of it. We choose to struggle and swim behind the board as we paddle it into shore. We have chosen to live as SOLE survivors when deep down in our souls we know differently. We know differently that we are called to be from within SOUL thrivers. The invitation is there for all of us to let go of our certain past and uncertain future to ride our present wave and to have FUN. We choose to have fun knowing that we are worthy to SWAY.

Surf’s Up!

~ Dan Mykins