Learning to Fail But Trying Again

Ecuador, a marvelous place full of new adventure. This week I took on something I have always wanted to try…surfing.

Surfing has been something on that wish list since growing up watching movies of girls killing it aka Blue Crush. However my biggest fear was not being good and then letting myself down.

Have you ever feel that way?

This week I took the plunge and learned. I found a company that ran a kids surf camp in San Diego so I asked if they had any other surf camps aimed at adults. They said yes so I got myself booked in for a few days of lessons! As we started learning surfing 101, I learned some girls had more experience than me and some on my level. I had to remind myself just like I do in anything that we are on all different levels and it is okay to not be the best all the time.

My trainer for the week spoke very little English so we had to learn to speak through hand motions and little words, which made learning even more fun.

Getting on the board, I had to learn balance right away followed by remember the movements and steps to what I needed to do to stand up. With every good moment there were a lot of moments that I had to get back up on the board and try again even when a wave comes smashing into my face, leaving my eyes vision shot, water in my nose and bruises on my body.

After our session the first time, I was already ready for my next session and I got to thinking…

Why in life don’t we always do this? Why was this something I could fail at multiple times but continue to try?

…and here is what I realized:

Support System

Having a support system is extremely important. It was amazing after I got a wave to look back and see my trainer so happy for me or the times in which I fell completely flat on my face and not ready to do it again, having someone say..again? Only because he believed so much more in me than I did in myself. I watched a fellow surfer have a hard time standing for a long time but her trainer never gave up on her. Eventually she stood up and was so excited. Having a support systems means having someone there for you.

Belief

Believing in yourself is so important. Like a support system it is super great to have someone believe in you but it is much more important to believe in yourself. When I was surfing I was lucky to have someone tell me over and over that I could do it, but I had to take what he was saying and believe in myself. You can move mountains in so many ways when you believe it yourself!

Determination

Be determined to follow through what you want to succeed at. You have to be determined to fight through the failures; Determined that even though moments get extremely hard fighting through them will only make you stronger and succeed faster. It is something I learned through many parts of my life but really through surfing. There were a couple times where I wanted to throw the towel in…I was tired, my body hurt, my nose was running and I just wasn’t hitting the waves like I wanted but I was determined to follow through.

X-Factors

You have to stop comparing yourself and let others dictate your success. I call this the x-factors because in life you are always going to have those people and things that make you compare. Comparing lives, levels of abilities, bodies, etc really can hurt you in the long run. The minute you surround yourself with supportive people instead, these pieces don’t matter as much.

Just like with surfing you have to try again even when you fail. You know the saying “You cannot fail if you aren’t trying” or you hear all the people that have failed multiple times and finally made it. Its true. Surfing taught me that. My friends are already gearing up to go to Ann’s Cottage Surf Shop so we can get away for weekend surfing trips! Sounds great!

I may fail but the belief, support system and determination are what is really going to help me succeed.