This is what it all comes down to

Today, something happened that I might not be able to describe to you properly, but I will give it my best shot.

We arrived here in Byron Bay on Tuesday morning and I literally fell in love with this town the moment I entered it for the first time. It is a small village on the east coast of Australia in New South Wales, south of the boarder of Queensland. Everyone greets you with a smile and goes above and beyond on an almost regular basis to serve you. It doesn't matter whether it is the chiropractor I went to see for my foot that took off his shoes again once he was almost out of the door when I called even though he was on his way to go to his kid's school function; or the shop owner that let us in the shop even though he was closing up. He even apologized for the stands in the walkways that he had already pulled in the store from his outside displays.

Then there was surfing…. I showed up today to our second surfing lesson with no ambition or motivation to go out in the water, because I had so much stuff going on in my head. I had absolutely no desire to be anywhere near anyone or anything. Then everything changed. After we got out there and I was the one to catch the first wave riding it all the way to shore…. It was all gone, everything that made me worry, sad and insecure - gone. It was just the ocean and I and as I was paddling out there again all I heard was the water splashing off my hands and my board smoothly gliding through the swell. I was one with the element and I couldn't help but smile; just because I felt like it. As soon as I saw my instructor when I arrived back out in the swell he had a huge grin on his face and yelled: "I can't believe you actually caught that!" And once I got close enough for him to see the look on my face he just went: "This is what it all comes down to."

My shoulders are pretty sore, I have bloodshot eyes from the salt water and both of my legs have "board burn" from switching between laying, sitting, and standing on the foam covered surf board, but no matter how much discomfort one would associate that with, I would do it all over again and again. Why? Well, once you have the honour of feeling the power of the ocean underneath your feet when you are riding on that wave towards shore - that is what it all comes down to. Right then and there, everything in your mind is clear and you know everything you've "worked" for was worth it and more. No, I am not riding crazy 30 ft waves; in fact, they are tiny baby waves, which gives you a small taste of what it must feel like dropping in on a wave that is even only 10 ft high; let alone a 50 ft break.

It was an unbelievable day today at Lennox Head. My instructors even said hadn't been that way for months.

Hours later, I am still smiling and all the worries I had before seem so small in comparison to the feeling I got to experience today on this perfect day.