When our youngest son was about 9 months old (and would wake up very early in the morning), our family spent a few days of vacation just north of San Diego. When our son would wake up, my wife and I took turns putting him in the carrier, leaving the condo, and walking on the pier built a quarter mile out into the Pacific Ocean.
From the pier, even at 6:00am in mid-November, one could easily see a hundred surfers, tiny to our sight, bobbing up and down in the waves. Each time a solid wave would approach them, a few surfers would stand up and take the wave, riding it masterfully to shore.
I often wonder about the difference, in my own life, between mastery and control.
From the pier, the surfers showed us that control of one’s circumstances is not possible, but mastery of those circumstances is beautiful.
Paul's Blog 