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Great Surfers Pay Their Dues

When we see a surfer performing spectacular maneuvers with amazing grace and style it makes surfing look like the easiest thing to do in the world, and for that person it is. Good surfers catch a lot of waves because they have developed the skill and understanding to do so. To become good at surfing requires more than mere physical prowess; to become great requires more than superior talent. Behind every great surfer is hours upon hours, weeks and years of endless practice and dedication. Surfers call it paying dues. Three key ingredients that enable surfers to become great are struggle, sacrifice and humility.

One doesn�ft generally associate struggling with surfing. In actuality the practice of surfing does indeed involve struggle as well as a lot of work. For many beginning surfers paddling out can be a struggle. With waves constantly breaking one after another many times it can be quite challenging just to get beyond the swells. Even as surfers advance and learn to paddle out more efficiently there will be times when strong currents or winds will put up obstacles making it difficult to catch waves. Every surfer, even the best ones experience circumstances that cause struggling.

Struggle begets mental and physical strength. By never giving into the struggle of paddling out through pounding never ending waves, surfers develop muscle and mental fortitude to rise above challenges. The longer surfers endure going through struggles the deeper reserves of strength there will be to rely on. Every great accomplishment that has ever occurred in surfing is the result of someone overcoming some type of struggle. In fact for any activity or human endeavor to be considered great it must involve some degree of struggle.

To become a great surfer requires a great deal of sacrifice. Those surfers who have become great, have done so because of the time and resources they put into their practice. Many surfers sacrifice economic freedom for personal freedom. Imagine if the best surfers in the world had put all their time into moneymaking endeavors. Who knows, anyone this dedicated just might end up as one of the wealthiest people in the world. Where your heart is so is your treasure.

Sacrifice begets purity. It�fs through sacrifice that things and situations accrue their value. If you give up a lot to acquire something it�fs going to mean a whole lot more than if it�fs given to you. When you sacrifice, work hard, and achieve something great, no one can take that satisfaction away from you, you�fve earned it. When someone actually earns accomplishment, people are not jealous or envious, instead they are awe-inspired and moved. There is no such thing as a great accomplishment with out sacrifice.

It�fs interesting to note that as a general rule, the better the surfer the less false pretense and the more humility there will be. Unlike other sports were there is conquest, winners, and losers, surfing doesn�ft work this way. Great surfers already know in the long run the ocean always wins. As long as mankind goes surfing, no matter how many or how large waves he or she rides, the ocean waves are no match. To an ocean wave even the greatest surfer is but a child playing. Sure many great surfers go into large surf with confidence but few if any will boast �gI am the greatest�h especially since most big wave surfers know a wave can take them out in an instant. You can�ft be too cocky going into the waves or they just might knock you down.

Humility begets respect. There is a saying amongst big wave surfers that goes, �gIf you go out with an attitude, prepare to be humbled.�h To be great, surfers have to experience and learn respect, this begins with being humble. Surfers learn not only to respect the ocean and waves they also learn to respect others, themselves their equipment and the environment. Humility and respect come from feeling as if you are apart of something greater than yourself. Showing and demonstrating respect shows one cares and when one truly cares fantastic things happen.

As it turns out the very characteristics that go into making a great surfer, struggle sacrifice and humility are the building blocks for all greatness. People experience struggle every single day. Those who struggle the hardest and yet persevere go on to do great things. As the German philosopher Nietzsche says, �gWhat doesn�ft destroy me makes me stronger.�h Those who sacrifice understand the value of commitment and hard work and are willing to pay the price for real success that lasts. Society respects and loves those who remain humble even in victory. Those who have struggled and sacrificed don�ft have to have an attitude or brag the results of their actions say it all.
Be like a surfer who struggles to paddle out, embrace challenge and struggle with unshakable resolve to succeed and you will develop inner and outer strength that can be acquired no where else.

Count your blessings and embrace sacrifice with hard work and experience the miracles first hand of a life worth living. Practice humility, respect others, yourself and the environment, and expand personal boundaries beyond imagination. Like great surfing and all other great accomplishment, everything begins with struggle, sacrifice and humility, surfers call it paying dues, and the rewards for those who persevere are priceless. Sea you in the surf.

The Willis Bros. are surfing experts recognized for surfing the worlds largest waves and teaching thousands in Hawaii and California to surf.

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