Mistakes

We've all made them... mistakes I mean. Come on
admit it, there have been sessions when you really
screwed up.  Some screw ups are relatively minor
like picking the wrong wave in a set, grabbing the
wrong board from your quiver, waiting for the wind
to shift or tide to change. We've all dropped in on
someone without having looked or thought about
what we were doing.

Some mistakes have more serious consequences.
Ask anyone who has surfed over a shallow reef,
fallen ackwardly and suffered cuts and scrapes
that might have ruined a session or trip for that
matter.  Have you ever found youself washed into
a rock jetty or groin? I'm sure you've broken a
board! Remember seeing the jet ski barely miss
landing on a surfer's head in Tahiti?

There are some mistakes that have larger and
seemingly more catastrophic consequences.  We
all have heard about someone drowning or becoming
paralyzed. We've seen photos of surfer's being carried
off the beach. We might even know someone who
has become too enamored with drugs or alcohol and
destroyed their lives and the lives of loved ones.

In life we all make mistakes. Sometimes, like
in surfing, the mistakes are minor, the result of not
thinking, other times they might be caused by
making bad decisions.  All we can hope for is
to learn from the minor ones, think long and
hard before acting without listening, and pray that
no real catastrophe happens.

Retire, retool, restart

Kelly Slater is off to a terrible competitive start this season.
There is little doubt that he is perhaps the greatest surfer in
history, however, this year something is out of sync.
His performance and luck have been inconcistent to
say the least. Who knows what the rest of the season will
bring?

Recently Kelly posted more video from his wave pool.
CarissaMoore, Wingnut, and Kanoa Igarashi were having
the time of their lives riding perfect manmade waves.
Long barrel sections, not a drop of water out of place.
Kelly, the proud papa (so to speak) was smiling and taking
video. Enjoying watching his friends have
fun.

The Kelly Slater surfboard label is now being marketed as are
Purps and Outerknown.  Lots going on in the life of a 44 year
old professional surfer Interesting new endeavors.
What does this mean? Is Kelly retired from competition?
Are his interests expanding and is he spending
more time on projects he enjoys other then competing? Perhaps
it's simply the next stage of life, all part of aging and development.

We all will reach a time when we must consider retiring, retooling,
and making a change.  We all age, we all experience some decline.
We all reach a piont where our motivation to engage in certain activities
wanes a bit. That's not a bad thing it's natural. Perhaps Kelly is showing
us how our own futures can be. Embrace change, follow passion,
dive in to something new. He's still an amzing surfer. I'm sure he
will win a few this year but it just doesn't seem that important to him.