I held a moment in my hand, brilliant as a star, fragile as a flower, a tiny sliver of one hour. I dripped it carelessly, Ah! I didn’t know, I held opportunity.
~Hazel Lee

Recently, in a moment of contemplation about the ebb and flow of life, I was overwhelmed by this thought: that the energy of life is rather like the energy of the sea.

Have you ever body surfed the waves at the beach? If yes, you may have experienced that feeling of anticipation, that moment of waiting before it comes: the perfect wave. You dive in, and the power of the sea propels you back toward the warm sandy beach. When you’ve been cast out of the sea, you feel exhilarated, fortunate to have experienced such a rush of energy. You want to ride it again.

I admire those courageous men and women who surf professionally. They’re the ones who go for the biggest, most challenging waves in the world. Just the other day I was reading about one of the world’s most famous surfing competitions, the Mavericks Surf Contest. Mavericks is a world-renowned wave break located a half-mile off the coast of Half Moon Bay, CA. Only 24 of the world’s greatest, bravest surfers are invited to complete at Maverick’s Surf—and they’re given only 24 hours notice before they have to assemble at the shore.

Let’s think about that for a moment. These brave souls have only a day’s worth of time to trek from who-knows-where to Half Moon Bay, where they’ll to ride waves as high as 50 feet, in bone-chilling water dominated by strong currents and filled with dangerous rocks. Somehow, these individuals are prepared, mentally and physically, to go for it.

I believe that life provides us all with opportunities, both big and small, to jump in and surf. Whether we’ll be faced with smaller waves of opportunity or a once-in-a-life-time Maverick wave, we must always be at the ready. No one wants to be the person standing at the shore, watching that wave that we missed—seeing opportunity pass us by.

I smiled when this thought occurred to me, because I knew I wanted to write it down and share with you. I ask you then: are you at the ready? Are you prepared to dive in to the surf? You should be, because after all that’s what life is all about! So think about it: what will you do next time life whispers (or shouts!) that the surf is up?