Initially, I was intimidated by this magical surfing man. Never before had I seen somebody so comfortable on and a wave. His wavy beach-blond hair cascaded from his scalp and swayed to the side as he carved up the face of his aqua blue wave. The figure of the man rose and fell like a pendulum suspended in mid-air. Intently I watched the man. I tried to imagine myself performing these stunts. I never had the opportunity to try surfing ocean waves and until the whimsical performance I had witnessed I never planned on it. My toes nervously sifted through the Californian sand as I studied the surfing man and contemplated giving his sport a try. However, the unknown of the ocean chilled me to the bone and the thought of embarrassing myself in front…show more content… My velocity increased as my board charged my partially balanced body toward shore. Water rushed past my glazed eyes as I clenched every muscle in my body to remain balanced. After about five seconds my trusty surfboard took off without me and left me falling backwards into the curling wave. My body tumbled underwater in defeat. Now rising to the surface my emotions produced tears as I helplessly fell victim to the subject of laughter from the shore. Mortified, I gathered my surfboard. Doubts began to overcome my mind. I had failed. Sure, I could return to the beach without further humiliation, and my family would still love me, my grades would still remain the same and the sun would still rise. However, I would have to deal with recollection of giving up surfing: something that has grasped my curiosity by the throat and said “try me”. Standing in ankle deep water now, my heart once again found the rhythm of the sea and suddenly my tears turned into motivation as I stood with my board loaded under my arm. With the scarring memory of my humiliation weighing heavily on my mind, I shot into the shore-bound waves full force. Every one of my paddles possessed a new sense of purpose, driving me further away from my comfort zone. I had something to
