Surfing.
The Obsession | Edition - 044
This is not going to be a blog on what surfing has taught me. Maybe you’ll read it as such. But I like to think of this as more of a reflection on my time spent in the water.
I moved to LA in February of 2026. That was the same month I decided to learn to surf. I found a coach who taught me the fundamentals, fit me to a board, and has helped me improve to be able to ride more and more waves.
I’m an advocate for getting lessons in almost anything in life. Why? Because alone, you’re likely to do the same thing over and over again and expect a different result. That’s the definition of insanity.
What my coach taught me first wasn’t how to surf. It was how to read the waves. Knowing what the ocean is doing before you paddle is critical to actually catching anything. There is so much more to surfing than just standing on a board. The reading, the timing, the positioning, all of that has to become second nature before the surfing even starts.
Anyway. Let me paint a picture.
You’re standing there. Sand on your feet, neoprene wrapped around you, ocean breeze and the sun on your face. You feel dang near invincible.
You take those first steps into the ocean. It’s cold and now you’re eye level with the waves. They grow and start to break on you. The thoughts rush in.
You’re in the ocean. The endless ocean. The quiet, powerful ocean. The fear strikes your mind and you have to quickly remember how you felt when you were back on that beach.
Now you’re out in the lineup, waiting for that perfect wave. You see it and start to paddle. You feel it push you and you pop up.
Then it hits.
The ocean fades into the background and it’s just you looking down the line chasing some imaginary end destination. The world stops. You’re gliding, falling, flying, but in total control. You mastered the ocean for a moment.
That feeling is like nothing else.
Surfing for me is going into the total unknown. The conditions are always changing. The ocean is endless. It is a way to truly experience something so unique that most people never will.
The unknown is uncomfortable. The unknown teaches you things about yourself that you didn’t know. It breaks up the routine. It makes you stronger.
Surfing for me is also a full disconnect. No phone, no people, no cars, no emails, no Teams, no Slack, no calls, no time, no suits, no work. Just you and the big blue ocean.
In a world filled with distractions, nothing else matters when you’re out there. It’s a great time to reflect, pray, and reset.
I’m not going to sit here and tell you that surfing will fix all your problems. But I am an advocate for finding something that truly helps you separate from the noise of the world for a moment. Something that resets you.
Find your version of surfing.
