The morning and day was a bit tough today, but worth it when I arrived at the late afternoon/evening that was to bring July 6th, 2009 to it’s end and to never return. I am going to state now that I feel as though my gratitude focus should be minimized to 3, max of 4 things that I write down every day. Each thing deserves more attention instead of blanketed among a million others listed in a row. It will really prompt me to think long and hard about it. So, for today, Pete is one of the three. The forceful decision by Jana to send us on our way, I am so grateful for. I am grateful for Pete, because if he didn’t go, I would not have had one of THE best surf sessions of my life. There was divinity in the water, the sky, the people and within me this evening. It stretched down from the sky that looked as if it was a fresco painted on the ceiling of my own personal church, the ocean. It seeped into the glassy, picturesque water and floated it’s way through the rolling swell to my feet and legs, permeating every pore in my body until I was filled with light, strength, confidence, energy and love. With all three elements melded into one, I was able to be one with the wave, move with it, along it’s steep, fast surface, gliding weightlessly, finally able to feel light and free for just that short while in the water.

I had so many good waves I became utterly giddy (just ask Pete), turning into that one annoying chick in the water that wouldn’t shut up. So, the second thing I am grateful for is the universe for answering my prayers for help. I pleaded for help this morning and it came, moments of peace, of exhilaration, of hope, and of me. I am so grateful for the universe bringing mother nature to me and for her to take me in, embracing me and reminding me that there is still joy, beauty, happiness, and hope out there for me. I cannot imagine life without the ocean, the outdoors, the sunsets, the moonrise, the other people and creatures, or without me in it. The third thing I am so grateful for were the other people in the water tonight. I caught so many waves, which may mean that many of them did not. I am so grateful to them for allowing me to have my moments that brought me out of some very dark depths I have been lost in over the past few days. They may never know what that did for me, but I would like to take this opportunity to send love to them through the universal divine forces out there. Thank you.

Sharing an experience with a friend that loves life and those he cares about, cannot help but rub off on me, that undying optimism for these precious lives we have and the moments that can brighten even the darkest of places within our hearts while reminding us of the importance of living these moments without letting them pass us by when we cannot ever get them back. It was meant to be that the rights tonight were just as fast and fun as the lefts, I had a goofy foot on my left and I was right where I needed to be, sharing waves with such an amazing friend and surrounded by a group of smiling faces; a bowl of cheerios where I was not the soggy one, we were all fresh, all happy to cluster together, and someone up there, something out there, swirled a huge spoonful of honey in our bowl tonight and made it the sweetest surf session I have had in a very long time.

My gratitude is overwhelming and connected to something greater that answered my requests for help. Tonight I felt like the glassy water was full of celestial beings reflected just like the stars in the wide, expansive sky above. We were all one tonight, all dancing in the water as if we had roots that reached through the ocean floor into the very core of the earth while our spirits were swirling up and out of us into the sky above. There is no better way to close than to say a prayer by the Dalai Lama:
“May I become at all times, both now and forever, a protector for those without protection, a guide for those who have lost their way, a ship for those with oceans to cross, a bridge for those with rivers to cross, a sanctuary for those in danger, a lamp for those who need light, a place of refuge for those needing shelter, and a servant to all those in need.”