My moves are all self-taught

I am determined to learn how to surf before my fortieth birthday.  Luckily my parents have this thing about taking family vacations in warm, sunny beach towns and taking ALL of us along.  Today a trio of little cousins and I wrapped ourselves in black neoprene and ambled toward the water.  I entered the Pacific Ocean feeling its chill rise up through my wetsuit while the thrill of learning a new sport was rising up through my entire being.  I thought about looking like a fool, sticking out my butt too far or belly flopping on my face over and over again.  Then I laughed louder than have in weeks and gave a whooping holler to the on-lookers.  Check this out people!

• I have a sloppy pop-up
• I only ride the white wash because I am scared of big waves
• I sort of like my wildly outlandish crashes and stunt falls off my board,
• I stretch my arms out extra wide like an airplane hoping they will keep me balanced
• My moves are all self-taught

While paddling into the surf a harbor seal popped his head out of the water right in front of me.  With deep brown eyes, he looked at me with an equally deep and surprised look on his face.  "What in the heck was I trying to do?" he seemed to wonder.  I think he was shocked by my antics.  I will admit, I aim to look as goofy as possible when learning something new.  This is how I convince myself I am having fun (while actually getting repeatedly beat up and bruised.)

Yesterday, I stood on a pier looking down upon a pod of surfers floating on their boards in the line up, waiting for the right wave.  I felt a range of feelings well up inside of me about attempting to learn how to surf; excitement, doubt, frustration, elation, and determination.  I thought, "They are all better than me."  Then like the water reflecting the sun, I saw my humanity and range of emotions reflected back to me in a collection of men and women bobbing on the surface of the sea.  We all feel this way sometimes and that is exactly why we go out there and try new stuff.

Photo by my daughter Ita

What new moves are you thrilled about learning?