Ride that wave!

Labor Day weekend, The first Monday of September that is intended to be a celebration of all of our labors and hard work, actually tends to be a marker for the end of summer. Almost like a last celebration. The final cookout, the last get together, and the last chance to be outside with semi-warm temperatures! People bring in their piers and boats from the water. Lawn chairs and grills get put back in the garage. And water parks shut down for the season.

I took advantage of this last opportunity! I took my kids to a waterpark! Now this waterpark had a lot of really cool slides and pools, but one in particular that had the attention of quite a few was the wave pool. It was this padded tarp in the shape of the inside of a wave. There was a deck at the top of this "wave" from which you were to start. There was water forced from the bottom of this ramp up to the deck in order to create the function of a wave in the ocean. It had two sections, one side for beginners with a trainer and the other side for those who could start by themselves. My kids were so excited to try it for themselves! So, I signed them up with a form that stated that in the event of injury or death the waterpark was not responsible! ... Do those forms ever make you feel a little less like a responsible parent?… Na, I mean, as long as they had fun… Right? ... Once they were signed up and waiting in line, I sat and watched as others attempted this seemingly difficult feat. Some would start with their belly to the board and others would jump on the board with two feet. My nine and ten year old son's would start on their bellies and regularly get splashed in the face! This always made me chuckle a bit. As they learned to maneuver the board there were obvious over compensations they made that sent them off of the board and when they hit the water it was with such a force that it sent them flying over the crest of the wave and onto the deck above! This was hilarious to watch! Someone trying so hard with such intensity would wipe out, face plant, flip over and then the force of the water would send them soaring up over the wave! The wipe outs became more intense for those who would attempt actually surfing standing up ... Which my twelve year old daughter decided to try with one of the trainers. Now she has had an unfair advantage as my exwife takes them to the lake quite often and has wake surfed and wake boarded behind a boat several times. Many who would attempt would find a position and hold it as stiff as possible hoping not to lose it. This would hold them for a second or two but with one slight change in the wave structure they didn't know what to do because holding the same position didn't make sense anymore and the would fall soon after. My daughter acted very similarly to those on the experienced side. She kept a good stance but honestly stayed quite flexible even testing the waves to see what she could do sliding back and forth and even bending to touch the water below. She stayed up much longer than those who would attempt with such a firm, strict and unwavering stance. Her flexibility allowed her to continue to ride the waves. She would feel the waves and move with them and at times even control them. At this point, when she was done she no longer feared the wave and would drop off of the board and let the wave take her to the deck. I was a pretty proud dad!

Over the centuries life has been metaphorically compared to a wave. The similarities of their rise and fall, consistent yet unpredictable nature. Many times i use this metaphor as though I am under the waves, nearly drowning and they keep knocking me down. However in watching my daughter tame the waves, take away their fear and actually ride them, I realized, we can do this in life too. We can not ride on top with a rigid, fixed and unwavering approach. We have to be able to flex, feel and move with it.

My life certainly has not turned out how I planned, but you know what, I have learned to ride that wave!

The life that you have had planned for yourself may need to change. The life you have planned for others will certainly have to change! There may be things, ideas or people that you have labeled as wrong that need relabeled. There may be events and situations that need evaluated differently. Otherwise you will not ever get back on top of the wave.

Even flexing and feeling the wave you are going to fall, but this time staying under it is not an option! So you get back up on two feet, flex and feel the wave and ride it once again!

You can do it! You are completely able and capable! I believe in you! Ride that wave!