I just wanted to write a quick blog about my amazing experience I had toady. It recharged me on many levels. I do lot of continuing education, quite a bit through listening to podcasts. A new one I’ve found very interesting is called Brand Story thats about creating a story telling brand. In a way by sharing my day I guess I am doing that but that’s not the point. The point is that I listened to a great episode about productivity in your work environment. As a Type A person I feel bad when I am not driving in full speed towards a goal. I have an inner slave driver that thinks things like “I hate relaxing” and “rest when you’re dead”, but the podcast had a PHD guest who talked about the importance of doing things that recharge you and that these things that others or perhaps, just my inner slave driver, consider frivolous, actually improve productivity and creativity. They also help to not burn you out. Productivity experts in fact recommend you schedule energizing activities into your calendar at least 3x per week. Things that were regarded as most recharging were activities in nature and social activities (even for introverts). Sometimes taking a nap does the trick too.

For me while it’s physically challenging, surfing is the epitome of being in nature and getting charged up. So today I scheduled a “Board Meeting” as I put it on my calendar- this is funny because I call it this so no one questions the validity of the activity when I have to turn down doing something else this time. People just say “oh, okay”, I guess it sounds important. But to ME, it IS SO important. It’s where I feel most grounded, at peace with myself, the earth, and its farthest as I get from existential pondering. It just feels good- through my entire body mind and spirit. I often try to get people to surf to share the guilt-free church like experience I very reliably have when I’m in the water, but like I told a friend the other day, it’s not playing checkers. Surfing is just not for everybody.

Today was a particularly sensory stimulating session, (excuse the alliteration it just happened) for many reasons. First, I went with my Fiance, we have to really make time to play without our little one. I had it on the calendar all week so it would not be bumped by requests to see homes, or networking opportunities or anything else. It was an appointment that I would respect like any other. I think we under-regard our own spiritual needs and need to recharge by prioritizing “more important things” and I think that’s B.S. We need have the same respect for these appointments as any others.  But I digress, today when we pulled into O.B., my favorite potpourri of surf spots in San Diego, it was like pulling into Anderson’s Pea Soup. When you looked off the coast you couldn’t see the waves or the water or anything, just a dense marine layer of fog. The thick fog is extra spooky and it’s the perfect setting of a Steven King novel, wait, it is!

We were going to surf a spot I’m not familiar with which already makes me nervous but a spot where you can’t see the conditions or people. Plus, this is a spot where you have to negotiate a wet rock stairway on  the cliffs and time the tide to get out. Fortunately, I’ve had some experience doing this in my early days of surfing in Santa Cruz. Still, I was feeling quite chicken-y when we got out of the car to take a uh, look…. at what I’m not sure but, seriously, just as we exited the car, the sun broke a bit just enough for us to see a set come through that looked super fun. Fun-sized open faces that peeled cleanly forever… or forever compared to a beach break and someone out there was making it look easy. So, excitedly we suited up, fullsuits and booties to go get ours.

Of course, as soon as we got out, the fog closed back in and we could no longer see the shore that we so recently left, back to spooky. On a positive note, this kept more surfers from joining us and crowding the spot with the same excitement and even worse more skill than me. Any who, I caught a ton of fun waves, and saw Rob (fiance) get a ton of rides which is almost just as fun as getting them myself…..ALMOST, I said. But despite my physical tiredness after the fact, days like this give me much needed perspective in the Driver, Type A personality brain. I feel grateful in a way that words cannot explain to be able to have all the sensations I had today, from seeing seaweed sway beneath me still attached to the ocean floor, to feel the cold water on my hot face,not to mention nervousness, excitement, adrenaline rush, delight, exertion, persistence, luck, awe and a handful more.

So the moral is definitely do things that recharge you, make time for them, they will help you improve how and know why you do everything else. While I can’t share the experience first hand with everyone, I found this video on YouTube of the spot we surfed to give you a glimpse into a session in my church! Funny how my quick blog turned into all of this . Rob teases me for having “lots of feelings” what can I say? I run on Passion!

If you want to have similar experiences, talk to me about houses for sale in Ocean Beach or the San Diego city of your choice.