The odds that I would ever have had the opportunity to try surfing (and fall in love with it forever) were stacked against me.
I am the eldest son of a university professor and a high school teacher.
As far back as I can remember, I have lived surrounded by books.
Hundreds of them, scattered throughout the house, from the dining room to the study, from the bedrooms to the entrance hall.
To make matters even more unlikely, both of my parents are published authors.
I certainly cannot say that they embodied the old saying: "A sound body in a sound mind."
I rarely saw them play sports. In fact, I do not remember ever seeing them run, swim, play tennis, or take part in any other sport.
They were always intellectuals, and all the emphasis was placed on exercising the mind.
As a result, sport was something I only discovered at school, since Physical Education was a compulsory subject from the 5th to the 9th grade.
I was fortunate enough to have some talent both for subjects that required intellectual effort and for a variety of sports.
I have always loved the water, too. I learned to swim out of necessity, like many children my age, but later also for enjoyment, pleasure, and fun.
I spent my pre-teen and teenage years largely during the 1980s.
At the time, you could count on your fingers the number of surfboards you saw on Portuguese beaches, whether in winter or summer.
The few memories I have are of Styrofoam boards that resembled a hybrid model somewhere between a bodyboard and a surfboard.
Some of these models even had a kind of fin setup. They were relatively inexpensive but very fragile.
I doubt that, before getting my first surfboard, I had ever actually seen someone surfing in front of me.
Surfing in Portugal is a very recent phenomenon, perhaps also because democracy only replaced the dictatorship in 1974, and the importation of foreign products began relatively late.
Fate made me a surfer for life
I started surfing by chance. It was pure coincidence.
During a break between classes, one of my best friends showed me a copy of a Brazilian surf magazine called Fluir.
He wanted to show me how incredible it must be to experience this sport - surfing.
The images were amazing. You could see lines of perfect waves with a human being riding them.
Because they were photographs, they left plenty of room for our imagination. "How would that wave end?" I would ask myself.
I remember becoming obsessed with surfing. Mind the common place, but it was really like an incoming wave growing inside my brain.
My friend eventually bought a second-hand Mike Davis surfboard from the only store that sold related products.
It was a windsurfing shop called Top Sport.
When I saw my friend with his new toy, I decided that I wanted one too. I wanted to dream of being featured in surf magazines and living that incredibly cool lifestyle.
I spoke to my parents.
Unfortunately, they were not very enthusiastic. I think they suspected it might be dangerous and impractical. After all, it is not like carrying a tennis racket.
Of course, if I had asked for a collection of books, they probably would have gladly bought it for me.
All roads lead to Rome
But fortunately, I did not give up.
There was another possibility of getting my first surfboard. What if I earned the money to buy it? Would they stop me from doing so?
Fate had already decided that I would learn to surf and continue surfing until the end of my days.
When I finished the school year, I was informed that I had been the top student in the parish where I lived.
In other words, I received the highest grade in every subject. The grading scale up to the 9th grade ranged from 1 to 5.
The result was the best I could have hoped for: a check.
The amount gave me the kind of financial freedom that allowed a 12- or 13-year-old boy to dream about the world.
My parents immediately realized that they had won a battle - the first one - but lost the war.
It would have been difficult to explain to me that I could not do whatever I wanted with the money I had earned through my own effort, sweat, and… homework.
I could hardly believe it. I was going to buy my first surfboard!
And so I did. The Mike Davis 6'2" available in the store was finally mine!
I was also able to get my first block of wax - it smelled amazing! And a short wetsuit - without sleeves or legs - from the French brand Piel.
Grateful for earning it the hardest way
Nowadays, I must admit, I am glad it happened that way.
Something always feels more rewarding when you have worked to achieve it yourself rather than having it handed to you on a silver platter.
At least when it comes to certain objects that become special to us and that we carry with us throughout our lives.
And then I taught myself how to surf. I still remember the day I first stood up on a surfboard as if it were yesterday.
The indescribable feeling of yet another personal achievement is priceless.
Moreover, as someone who has been nearsighted all my life and went into the ocean seeing very poorly, with everything blurred and out of focus, it was undoubtedly a memorable milestone in my life.
Surfing educated me and helped shape me as a person. It connected me to Nature, to the protection of beaches and oceans, and gave me a confidence I had never had before.
The shy and reserved boy I once was opened himself to the world and challenged it.
Surfing continued to transform my adult life, and even today, I use it to help change lives for the better.
Being a good student paid off, of course. That is why I recommend being the very best we can be at school.
And that is a lesson for surfing and for life. The rest we leave to fate and to the inevitabilities of our short journey across this planet.
Words by Luís MP | Founder of SurferToday.com
por Surfing | News, Headlines and Top Stories https://ift.tt/FTBMRjA