How Surfing Makes Me Feel

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by Quinn Bradlee
Tuesday, August 17, 2010

I am surprised that I have not yet talked about surfing; the one thing on this planet that sets my mind and soul free. I have always associated very well with the sport because it is something that I can do alone and not have to worry about being better than anybody else or if somebody else is better than me. I often use surfing as an analogy to many things, such as life itself. The reason why I love surfing is because it helps me melt my problems away.  Whenever I am in Long Island and I have a problem and feel that I am not doing anything right, I just go and jump in the water with my board and everything is okay again.

There was a point where I knew more about the history of surfing than knowing how to surf; now I am about half and half. A lot surfers think that it was the Hawaiians that started the sport, but it was actually the ancient Tahitians that did; it was just that the Hawaiians had much more of an influence on the sport than the Tahitians did. Archeologist have found cave paintings that replicate men surfing on a wave in Tahiti that date back two thousand years. However, it was an ancient young Hawaiian that stood up on his board on a big wave, and thus a new era of the sport was born.

The Hawaiians learned of the sport from the Tahitians and it almost became a religion to them. In fact, each and every time the Hawaiians would cut down a tree to make a plank to surf on, they would replace it with a fish to honor and give thanks to the gods. They eventually started to have contests against each other and against the king for the monarchy. If the contestant won, then he would become king and win the kingdom. However, if he lost, the punishment would be a limb cut off or death. The Hawaiians said that whenever they surfed that they had never felt such a supreme pleasure before in their lives.

People say that when they do the thing that they love, it is the most amazing feeling they will get. Some people argue with surfers saying that it is the exact same feeling but they are wrong. The reason why is because when you are surfing, the human body is not doing something that it was made to do: you are riding a wave, standing on something that is pushing you; humans were not born to go in the water. At the same time I feel that everything including the trees and humans all came from the sea.

When I go surfing, all of my memories of what the doctors told me, of "how I can't" or "couldn't," and "will never be able to" - it gives me a chance to prove all of them and anybody who ever told me those things wrong.