The Dark Side Of The Wave

Imagine it’s the dark of night.

You’re in the sea and several miles offshore.

A spotlight fixed to your forehead

Perfectly shines the light

On the Wave you are surfing.

You can clearly see the area just ahead,

Which gives you plenty of information

To make choices about the Wave you are riding…

And the area you illuminate.

— — — —

Surfing at night

Guided by our own light

Models how we surf our own Life Waves.

If what we illuminate becomes our reality,

Then, we naturally develop and refine the skills

To handle this exact space.

But what about the darkness

Beyond the lines of our illumination?

— — — —

Does the dark area

Suggest that

Waves do not exist there?

This raises a few questions about

The choices we have in projecting our light.

Do we:

Double down on the brightness of our existing area?

Widen the light to see more area?

Turn the light away from where have been and towards something new?

— — — —

There is no one correct answer to these questions.

But no matter how they are answered,

There is a common thread that makes any choice possible:

In the darkness exists the opportunity.

— — — —

Darkness is a counterintuitive companion

On the path we choose to follow.

Its qualities of uncertainty and the unknown

Are often repelled by our comfort zone

With greater force

Than our pursuits of growth and transformation.

And its easy to dismiss the role of darkness

In the functionality and focus

In the projection of our light.

However,

Instead of labeling, resisting, or avoiding darkness,

Welcome it as a necessary collaborator with light.

How can we use darkness

To improve the quality and range of our light?

Lean into curiosity to ask:

What awaits us on

The dark side of the Wave?

With gratitude, Joe

Follow Your Flow, Achieve Impacting Wins, & Ride Spectacular Life Waves

Ready to position the art of surfing waves as a process for deep reflection and meaningful life transitions? 

Subscribe to Thinking In Waves, my short weekly essay about the lessons and experiences that I learn surfing offshore waves on a surfski kayak transferred to an innovative model for clear thinking and better choices <— Short, fun, and memorable - new riders are always welcome!