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.