Thursday, August 8, 2013

Setbacks, frustrations, and lessons

I've been out of the warm summer water for about
6 weeks now.  No it's not really by choice but rather
necessity.  I picked up a pretty gnarly staph infection
that had to be lanced and required 2 courses of antibiotic
medication.  I'm out of the ocean until the wound is
completely healed and the scab is gone. Bummer!

To add to my frustration the month of July has been
a pretty consistent month.  There was rideable surf probably
25 of the 31 days and about 7 or 8 really good days.
Warm water and consistent surf...isn't that what we all
dream about?

So how do you deal with setbacks and frustrations in
your life? As setbacks go this one was, in fact, rather
minor and insignificant but it got me thinking.

 During the past month I was at the beach just about every
morning, as usual. Hey, a highlight of my day and my dogs
day are our sunrise walks.  Couldn't stop those. Sure I could
have tried to sleep in but that would have deprived both of us
of one of my favorite parts of the day.

I watched the waves and learned to study breaks a bit
more than I usually do. I visited other spots and  became
more mindful of the little intricacies of the ocean and,
beach, the sounds, the birds,  the fish, the little things.
I learned to enjoy watching others ride waves and became a
student of style.  I rode my bike more than usual, ran and
worked out more. My yoga took on a new importance. After
all I needed to stay in shape ready for the day I can surf again.
Oh yea...I probably did a few more chores around the house
and did get that fence painted in a more contented manner.

All and all I had to learn to be patient, to try to be more
mindful of things I'd taken for granted.  I learned to be grateful
for my connection to people, the ocean, the beaches, and waves.
I'm excited to get back and surf, paddle, swim and be embraced
by the ocean but I think I've learned a few things from this minor
setback, learned how to cope with frustrations (however minor) a
bit better.  How do you cope with setbacks? How do you cope
frustration?

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