I once met this guy, yes a male human being, named James, while on a trip to Bali. I met him while having beer at my local spot along the den of iniquity named Jalan Poppies Lane
He was from the UK, the specifics of which I don’t know, and he had come to Bali to have a good time. Well, suffice to say, he had come to the right place, Bali is the perfect place for people from all over the planet to lose their minds and catch some cooking waves in the process. The only problem was, James was in a committed relationship. A couple of beers down and he began to explain to me that he was going to put an end to his union, and reinstate himself to the ‘single and ready to mingle’ playing field.
James had been dating his girlfriend, Selena for quit some time, a year and a half to be exact. But he was never 100% committed to her. I’m not sure what it was about her, he never revealed that to me, but it was clear that he was in two minds about being with her from the beginning. Upon arrival in Bali, the abundance of local and international cuisine was too much for him to handle, and he ended his relationship with Selena in order to pursue the wider barrel on the other side of the bay. And off James went, a single man, with shiny new horizons.
A month later I saw James again, he looked worn out and depressed. Life wasn’t going so well for him. His ex had fallen in love with someone who swept her off her feet, and all he had done was hook up with man ladies (Because there are many of those in Bali) and got dragged across the reef at Uluwatu. I felt sorry for the man, I was bummed that things didn’t work out for him, he had come to Bali to have a good time, but Bali’s glimmering, shining bright iniquity disco lights sucked him in and spat him out. But you know, James wasn’t fully committed to Selena anyway, he sort of just kept her around until something better came along, instead of deciding to be with her or break up with her, he dabbled in the middle ground, neither here nor there.
And that’s when you get burnt!
The same goes for paddling into waves. When that larger than usual set wave comes through, that just happens to be 2 feet bigger than the rest, I tell you my friend, don’t you dare think twice, make a decision to be with that wave, put your head down, grit your teeth, and paddle your skinny pasty ass off! Cause just like relationships, waves require commitment, and the more commitment you have, the more likely you are to nail the drop and slide your way into a filthy clear blue barrel. But lord help you if you don’t commit, you’ll most probably end up getting dragged across the reef, snap your board and spend the rest of your session watching your mates get pitted down the point.
So please don’t waste anybody’s time and just Commit…