The Existential Surfboard

And other bad metaphors for life…

Trying to change your life while navigating it isn't for the faint of heart. Life is a jungle and there's no way out of it except to go through it. But how do you see above the trees to make sure you're moving in the right direction? How can you know? Just because it's the path of least resistance, most traveled, and most beaten down doesn't mean it is taking you where you want to go.

So the answer must be that, in order to live the life you want to live, you must create your own path. But if an effortless life isn't unfulfilling one, must a life full of challenges be lived in order for happiness? How much struggle is too much struggle? At one point does the search for this happy life turn us into masochists?

It's a balancing act. It’s an act of equilibrium...

I got it!

It’s like surfing.

You have to have a mastery of yourself to even make it up on the board. If you can’t evenly distribute yourself when the wave is upon you, you’ll never mount the board amid the swell of life and it will come crashing down, separating you from the board and your eyes from higher perspective.

Most never get much past this stage.

If you’re one of the fortunate souls able to climb aboard in time, you’re rewarded with the wind in your hair, momentum under your belly, and the wave that once threatened to drag you down into the dark depths below is now propelling you across the surface of the blue and towards your new future.

For many, this is enough. If you ignore the fact that you are traveling through your life on your belly like the lowest of creatures, the feeling can be quite exhilarating. But that’s not a station some could ever accept…and so the journey to higher understanding and vision continues.

If it took the mastery of one's self in order to climb out of the water at all, it requires the mastery of self and the understanding of one's place in the universe in order to face it on your feet. Too much force and back into the depths you go. Two little force and you never break through the next side of enlightenment. This is not something that can be taught. This is something that must be understood through experience. There are no shortcuts, only trial and error, patience and determination. And faith.

Until you've done it. You are a master of self and you are a child of the Universe. Both at peace and ever vigilant, a warrior of stillness and love. For however long you can maintain it, you have achieved balance and harmony and you probably have a killer six-pack to show for it.

But what if I were to tell you that there is no surfboard?

Whoa.

That was fun. Ridiculous, but fun. Now, I want to hear YOUR bad metaphors for life. List them in the comments.

Ready? And…go.