This past Father’s day I was pummeled, served, and owned—and it was one of the best days I’ve had.
The shirt, beach towel, and book were nice gifts. What made the memory, though, was that both of my sons Jon and Josh went to the beach with me. It wasn’t the best day for the beach: 52 degrees, the water was about 50 and we were still in the midst of a rare summer Nor’easter. But my sons joined me in adventure. Joshua skim boarding, Jonathan boogey boarding, and me surf kayaking.
After 2 attempts to paddle out past the 8 foot breakers and being thrown back and over, my third attempt resulted in my kayak hitting me in the head and me taking in a few mouthfuls of water. I went back to the beach, sat on my boat, looked at the angry sea, and knew that I would stop fighting for the day.
Josh was skillfully skim boarding and Jonathan walked over. I said, “Son, sometimes you have to know when to quit. This is wisdom.” I was thinking about Seth Godin’s book, “The Dip,” which shares how sometimes you persist at endeavors through the hard times because it is a dip in the road and on the other side is success, but other times the resistance is a dead-end and you need to know when to stop.
As Jon went back out to boogie board I realized I wanted to try again. I did, and I was successful on a small wave. The next large one pounded me, though.
After I recovered, I joined Jonathan to body surf. He said to me, “Dad, you were pummeled, you were owned, you were served! These waves are cocky and arrogant.”
Me: “Ya, maybe
God’s reminding me I’m not in control.”
Jon: “Ya, maybe he’s saying give the waves a chance to win. This is great, you know. I’m out here
for you. Happy Father’s Day.”
It was.
Peace,
Jonathan
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