Intuition:Part Two:When We Ignore What We Know

At eighteen we are either bulletproof or we have not really fully developed our confidence. Based on our personal experiences, interests, or our peer groups; we are likely to challenge ourselves in some way to expand our knowledge base. Either knowingly or unwittingly, we seek to know and try to grow our individuality, without consideration of risk or real understanding of the relevance of the events.

My father was a Lighthouse Keeper; our home during my younger years was an island. I had built my confidence; from the gaining of knowledge on offer, within a natural environment which most would then have considered being an isolated place. We also farmed, surrounded by a wonderful tutor; the sea. We had left our paradise, when I was ten years old and had settled in a completely unfamiliar and alien world full of people; called a City.

You never forget the sea. She holds pride of place in your heart when she is your first love. As a teenager; Surfing was my opportunity to spend quality time with my Love's moods; as she gave us the waves which allowed us to blend with her. During some of her angriest days, she sent us huge storm surf, inviting us to challenge her powers. On one of those days, my friends and I drove throughout the night to arrive at the beach where her challenge was the greatest.

We really couldn't sleep; anticipation of glassy 8 - 10 foot dawn waves was endorsed by the booming of wasted waves against the beach. Before the sun had woken, four surfers already paddled out towards a point break 800 meters from shore. There had been an inky darkness when we had donned our wetsuits, waxed boards & gobbled down a tin of cold energy spaghetti. No time to do anything else, except get to the office. Great, we've got the waves to ourselves, five kilometers of empty beach devoid of other human life. Fantastic! This was already a special day for the sea.

When the waves are great, you surf them and you surf them for all the time that they are great. You don't care how much time you are in the water, you have a pretty good understanding of how much mileage can be traveled on a tin of spag. You just stay focused on the horizon, looking for the shimmering ripples that tell you it's going to get better. You just know from the sea's subtle signs and your total understanding of her environment.

By mid afternoon 12 - 14 foot sets rolled towards us and two of my friends bailed back to shore, to drive the ten kilometers to town for more energy fuel. Paddling further out to sea to meet the monsters, I sensed that maybe I should have gone with them; my tank was running low after eight hours of physical effort that was about to increase. Looking along the beach I could see another two surfers 800 metres away and my remaining friend was further inshore.

After several rides he indicated that he was spent and caught a ride back. That feeling again; not a fear of being alone; just a niggling at the back of your mind that something didn't fit. Dump it, focus on the waves, my conscious mind told me. By now, my friend was lying star-fished on the beach, probably asleep from salty tiredness, which is always masked by Adrenalin; until you STOP.

Waiting for a new set of waves to arrive, I felt my right toes cramping, really cramping and I couldn't break the cramps. My spaghetti had run out. I decided that the best option was to try ignoring the pain, start paddling instead of sitting on my board. I quickly forgot the cramp in my right foot when my leg cramped in sympathy.

There is not a lot of time between wave sets when you are in storm surf and the first wave has arrived. Nose of the board down, deep breath, head down and push through straight into it, let it wash over you until you pop out behind the break. I'd done this 1000 times before, but never with cramp. I must catch the next wave to get back to shore. Turn and paddle until the wave starts to carry you, where is the break going to be, where will I drop in, ok I know this wave, weight forward on the board, let's go. Wooo.. this is big wave, on your feet fast, drop, bottom turn, climb, reentry, stall and enjoy the curl. Hang on; I'm thinking ahead, my right leg isn't working! Too Late. In my very best impression of a dying swan, I dropped in a free-fall down the face of the 12 foot breaking wave. Smash, best describes the moment of input.

Its called 'over the falls' for good reason; you get to find out what your washing feels like in a washing machine and how much a wave weighs at the same time. Tons of water turns you inside out in a mass of bubbles and pressure. You go with it, tumbling over and over, don't fight or panic; the wave will pass and you will get to the surface for air. No problem; push up to the surface, grab a breath and your board and start paddling again. SMASH came the next wave and down again, over and over in the turbulence, I need more air....

This is a story about Intuition. How acute is Your intuition right now? Consider the situation described above. Visualize yourself as the surfer: How did you deal with a situation like this? Feel the wave holding you down and your helplessness as you are tumbled. Clearly, this is not the end of this story; it continues in the third part of Intuition; the ending will surprise you.

Before you complete the story; Please Try this exercise: From the clues in the story guess the ending of this story. Use your powers of logic and intuition: Test yourself if you dare. Good Luck. This is a True Story.... The ending merits its own story. But perhaps you know that already.

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If you have enjoyed this story, please follow the link below to the last part of this story.