Have you surfed? It’s freakin’ hard. I took a surf lesson a few days ago and for me, getting up on the board and cruising back to the beach was actually easy but battling the waves to get out into the ocean so I could catch a wave nearly crushed me. Trying to walk out over the sandbank holding a 10-foot board while being constantly beaten in the face with nearly 2 foot waves at 10 second intervals was HARD. I gave up after doing it 4 times and surfing only 4 waves and just sat there watching my classmates go in again and again.

Giving up makes you feel like shit. It makes you feel like a failure. It makes you think you are weak. At least that’s how I felt. I kept focusing on what I failed at, on what I couldn’t do.

Then, somehow, through random luck or intervention from the Universe, I stumbled upon this video by young Sam Berns. Watching it made me tear up. Watch it and maybe you will too.

Sam’s simple message touched me so deeply: “Be OK with what you can’t do because there is so much you CAN do.”

Maybe you can’t surf but you can do a rockstar vinyasa. Maybe you can’t run fast but you can dance like MJ. Maybe you can’t write blogs but you write beautiful poetry. Be OK with what you can’t do because there is so much you can do.

Sam passed away on January 10, 2014. I want to end by rephrasing another thing that Sam said. No matter what YOU choose to become, I believe that YOU WILL change the world, and as you’re striving to change the world, YOU WILL be happy. 

And as long as I strive, so will I.

With love,

Ritu

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