At the end of 2020, I made a resolution to work less and surf more in 2021.
At 48, with 3 young kids, I want time now, not later.
I had been working to a long term plan, retiring early and having the freedom I strived for then. Striving towards the right time, when I had everything in place, when I saved up enough cash, when had a pension tucked away, when had people in place to do the day operations for the company, when the kids wouldn't need me as much. And then something happened.
I realised that there would never be a perfect time. There would always be something not quite lined up right, some new need, some theoretical or imagined reason to wait, someone depending upon me, something to justify my procrastination and I would just doggedly carry on, until I had missed it all, my life.
I realised that as long as I was has head down, shouldering responsibility and and bravely carrying on, I would never make that change. I had been thinking about it, and planning it, for over a year but had only taken the smallest of actions. So I did it, simple as that. I took an action. I walked away from the company I had been with, and loved, for nearly 20 years.
I had wanted a plan B, tried and tested, in place before doing so but I did not have a plan B. I had realised I would not find that plan B whilst working 60 hours a week with my head down. So I jumped off the cliff so to speak, no plan, other than surf, think, and find a new job and a new way of life. I had the self belief that I would find one, and had realised that I would never find one if I did not give myself enough time, space, and need, to do so.
As soon as I had made the decision, I knew it was the right decision for me, and for my family. I had wrestled with the decision, procrastinated over it, what I wanted on one side and what I thought I should do for everyone else on the other. I should not have done. I discovered my loved one, my friends and even my colleagues who I felt responsible for, were just happy for me. The people I felt responsible for, the people I loved, liked, and supported, felt that same sense of responsibility towards me, and it shone through. They could see, much more clearly than me, it was what I needed, and because they loved me, they wanted me to have what I needed and wanted. They supported me, loved me, and believed in me.
And so after a slow start in 2021, with work dominating my time, and my surfing and my family taking their normal seats at the back, I switched it around completely. In the second half of the year, I surfed 2, 3 times a day when the surf was good. I surfed with my friends, and with my kids, and helped others to follow in my footsteps, putting what they wanted, and their love of surfing, higher up their priority list.
I succeeded in my aim for the year, with one big significant decision and change, and am now happier than I have been in years, as are my family! When it all came down to it, that was it, one decision, one change, and a completely different life as a result, one I love!
Did you aim to surf more in 2021, and how did you do?
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