expectations

Straight from the airport departure lounge into a boat and off across the top of the most insanely clear water I’ve ever seen. Ive spent years of my life traveling the world surfing but the Maldives takes the cake when it comes to ocean water clarity and colour. 

On the boat trip to our our island paradise a guy next to me said  “Have ya seen the swell forecast?” The tone in his voice indicated that he was not enjoying the first hour of his holiday. His question was an obvious setup for the slam-dunk comment he was dying to pin on me next. I was doomed to hear it regardless of my answer so I smiled and said “I have”. I thought maybe if he knows I know the same thing as him and yet sees we are noticeably having different experiences right now, maybe he would cheer up a little. 

Instead he stared at me with a blank, slightly bewildered look on his face and said 

“expensive f*#@ing snorkelling trip”. 

That was all he said, he put his head down and stared at his feet for another 40 minutes and then when we pulled up to a coconut grove and white sand beach with welcome drinks and smiling locals, he quickly disappeared with his wife, who followed him at a distance, as he sulked off into his bungalow. 

I can relate to his anguish, as most surf enthusiasts could. No waves on the forecast when you’ve booked your annual surf holiday can be a big blow. He had placed such incredibly tight restrictions on what this trip was all about that when it didn’t look like it was going to go to plan he could not adapt. Zero Adaptability, Zero happiness. This was his slogan for the trip. 

His gift to me in that moment was to inspire me to step up my game in this department. I wasn’t struggling but there was a part of me that had hoped for a good swell forecast too. So I made extra effort to let go of the plan to surf everyday and open myself to the adventure. Infinite possibilities when you have no appointments restricting your movement.  

“The universe has no restrictions. You place restrictions on the universe with your expectations”  

Deepak Chopra