The equation for a happy life adds up to surfing

S is for savor. Surfers savor the ride for each ride is a unique and precious gift and once it’s over it’s over. Savor the day, savor the night, the moment, savor every breath. Enjoy challenges, for in them we have an opportunity to improve, become stronger, wiser and better.

If a surfer never faces a challenge, then that surfer will never be able to improve. Relish the chance to work, to rest, to play, for balance brings harmony.

Value all life. Surfers know the value of a wave. It comes, it goes, and then it’s gone. Once a ride is over like a fingerprint of nature it will never be exactly repeated. Savor each day as if it was your very first, for in essence it is the first day of the rest of your life.

U is for unite. Just as drops of salt water make up the ocean, human beings make up the sea of humanity. We are all part of the ocean of mankind. In physics, they refer to it as the unified field. Surfing unifies a surfer’s mind, body and spirit.

When the mind, body and spirit are unified, a surfer is then able to unify with the wave and natural rhythm and flow of the universal pulse. Unite with truth and you will see the light. Unite with love and you will live full. Better to include than to exclude.

He who stands united stands strong. A purified world is a unified world.

R is for responsibility. Big wave surfers learn early to be self reliant and responsible for their thoughts and actions. When a big wave surfer rides giant waves, he expects no one to come to the rescue should things become dangerous.

Responsible surfers desire to put no one at risk for the decisions they make. If a big wave surfer has the wrong surfboard for the right swell, whose fault would it be? His own.

If a big wave surfer makes the wrong choice of waves and wipes out whose fault is it? His own.

Surfers also have a responsibility to help protect the environment. The earth is home to all. It’s up to all to help keep her clean.

F is for freedom. Everything in the ocean is wild and free including surfers. It’s the freedom found in surfing that helps make surfing so attractive.

Surfers are autonomous, they decide when and where they to go surfing. Surfers themselves decide how short or long they want to surf. There are no time limits in surfing and there are no boundaries save for the shoreline itself.

Surfing is as free form restrictions as anything can be. No stop signs, no traffic lights, no timers. Surfers are on their own to work it all out just like the dolphins, pelicans, seals and other wild and free sea creatures.

Real freedom begins in the mind. Free up the mind from fear worry and stress and you will indeed be free.

I is for individual. Every surfer has their own style of surfing, their own unique way of doing things. Surfing always has and always will be about personal expression. Just as important as the wave, is how a surfer chooses to surf the wave. A wave to a surfer is like a raw canvas to an artist or a blank piece of paper to a writer. It’s up to each individual to create his own masterpiece.

Surf to the rhythm of your own wave. When it’s all said and done, individuality begins with I, I as in one. My hopes and aspirations for peace of mind and happiness are your hopes and aspirations for peace of mind and happiness.

N is for nature. Everything good comes from nature. Everything natural is good. Long after the last wave is surfed, nature will go on. The closer relationship a surfer has with Mother Nature, the deeper his love will grow for Mother Nature. She gives without being asked. She provides receiving no pay in return.

Everything a man needs to live comes from Mother Nature, the rest is extra. Visit with Mother Nature, explore her moods and learn her temperament.

Come into the ocean, my friend, for here you have a friend. Ride her waves, feel, express and be. Surfers in touch with nature are surfers in touch with life. Be good-natured.

G is for give. Give and keep giving. Time is more valuable than money. Give time to those you love and the causes you believe in. What can a man give that he has not first received?

Aloha.