Back on Board

It’s never too late … after a few (dozen) years break, Jim Byers discovers happiness is getting to hang ten again.

Each morning, I would scan the ocean from my hotel balcony. And there they were: the surfers, out to catch a wave at glorious Waikiki Beach. I felt envy. I wanted to get out there so much. I felt unease. I was scared to get out there again.
I first came to Hawaii when I was 12. I took to the waves nicely. Surfing, at least at relatively easy Waikiki, became a regular part of my trips to Hawaii. I surfed with my kids on Kauai maybe eight years ago and a couple times on Maui. But it was nothing like Waikiki, where a good ride can go on for 20 or 30 seconds on long, consistent, rolling, perfect waves.
In Honolulu a few years back, I took a surfing lesson but I didn’t like the instructor. I had maybe one decent ride in an hour, scraped my knee and went home dejected. Which was the backdrop to my recent trip, when I was staring down the idea of turning 58 and gazing out at the surfers and thinking about Jimmy Buffett’s line where he’s “an over-40 victim of fate.”
Part of me desperately wanted to get back out there. Part of me told me my surfing days were over. After two days in Waikiki, I had pretty much talked myself out of another try and was bemoaning the seeming fact that I might never ride again.
Canadian sports psychologist Peter Jensen, who has worked extensively with Canada’s top Olympic athletes, told me there’s a highly technical term for my indecision. “It’s called the chicken shit gene.” Jensen said it’s natural for someone older to think twice about certain activities.
“Part of your brain picks up that you might get injured. It’s something you haven’t done for a long time and you don’t have the balance you used to have. That’s simply a fact.” Jensen said imagery is the language of performance.
“Once you tell those stories to yourself (about maybe getting hurt), the feelings they generate will keep you off that board.”
Back at Waikiki, I met up with a colleague and revealed my crisis of confidence. She recommended a friend who she insisted was an amazing teacher. I looked down at my waistline and thought, Maybe you’re not that out of shape.
I started to recreate that feeling of being one with the waves, imagining the salt water and sun on my face. I felt shamed that I had thought of giving up so easily at a relatively young age.
The next morning, Jojo Howard of Go Surfing Hawaii greeted me on the sand of Waikiki. She had a big smile and put me at ease. Out in the water (fairly far out where there are fewer hacks like me and better waves), she gave me tips about getting on and off my board, where to level my gaze and how to spread my feet and get into a baseball hitter’s crouch. Howard was a joy. She quickly had me believing I could actually do this again.