Fitting Right In

My Experiment: Part 8

You can read Part 7 here: Enjoying the Journey

I might be getting the hang of the tides at the surf break across the road from me. It’s a tricky balance: if the tide is too high, it washes out the break. But if the tide is too low, the rocks appear– no bueno. The sweet spot is found somewhere in between.

The other day, I timed it just right. High tide was around 6:30am, when the sun chases me off the beach after my dawn meditation. The surf looked pretty flat as I left, so I meandered back to my porch and wrote for a while, enjoying the cool morning calm. When I checked the waves an hour later again, they still didn’t look promising, but I felt like getting in the water, so I went for it.

Conditions were ideal. A whisper of wind gave the sea a smooth, silky texture that was irresistibly inviting. Desultory clouds lazily wafted across the sky, providing relief from the blazing glare and relentless heat of the sun.

Despite initial appearances, the waves turned out beautiful as well. Small, only about three feet, but perfectly shaped and breaking consistently. Plush shoulders peeled off the point, delivering glossy faces, perfect for effortless, gliding rides.

No one else was out that day, I had the break all to myself. In between sets, floating out in the dazzling blue, breathing in the rejuvenating sea air, looking back at jungle-covered hills, I felt like I was exactly where I was supposed to be, existing in harmony with the universe, fitting right in.

A quote from Joseph Campbell crystalized in my head: “The goal of life is to make your heartbeat match the beat of the universe, to match your nature with Nature.” I felt my heart thumping in time with the cosmic pulse. Sublime joy suffused my being, accompanied by a sense of relief and profound gratitude. Relief for escaping my soul-sucking, 9-5 office job; and gratitude for finding a life I want to live. After so much time living a life that felt wrong to me, it’s marvelous to feel like I finally fit in.

Since moving to Costa Rica, moments like these have been occurring more frequently. When I get out of my head and start feelingwhat I should do instead of thinkingwhat I should do, it’s much easier to go with the flow of life, to find the path of least resistance and fit right into the world.  When I let go of my all my schemes for future happiness and open myself to the opportunities presented in the moment, things tend to work out just right and life doesn’t seem like such a struggle. If I had listened to my intellect, which didn’t see promising waves that morning, I might have skipped surfing. But I just felt like going, so I did, and wound up in the perfect place at the perfect time.