There is a guy from Hawaii that I know. Every day, he wakes up, straps his surfboards to the racks on top of his car, drives his car from a town called Ewa, across the island of Oahu, to a little beach known as Ala Moana Beach Park. He does all of this even before the sun comes up. He spends a few minutes just looking at the ocean, watching and surveying the waves and how they break. As soon as the sun makes its first peek over the horizon, he grabs a board, waxes it up, and jumps in the water. He then paddles his board through what many people call a journey: two hundred yards of dark cold water, blistering currents, and waves pushing back against each stroke made to push forward. He makes this journey to get to a point right past where all the waves break, to a point called the line-up. It"s here, where he waits for a wave that he catches back towards the shore, only to make the journey back through all the cold harsh currents and waves again. He catches a few waves, and then catches one all the way back to shore, where he showers, gets dressed and then goes off to work.

             He has one of the most stressful jobs I can think of. He is a counselor at one of the local shelters for teenage runaways. He deals with teen depression, suicidal tendencies, and coordinates bringing these kids back together with their families. And even though these tasks aren"t what most people would want to have to put up with in their lives, he does it every day. Furthermore, as stressful as his job seems to be, this man is one of the mellowest guys that I know. When asked why he does this morning ritual every day, he said, "surfing helps keep me focused". And I believe him. .

             Think about it for a moment, each time a surfer goes to a beach, waxes up his board, and surveys the waves from the shore, he is preparing to go into the water to do something quite amazing. This person is willing to test not only his limits, but also the limits of what the ocean can do to him.