I have a fun family story for you...
It was the final weekend of summer, and I was at the Jersey Shore with my family. The waves were incredible because a storm had rolled through the night before. I was teaching my two older daughters how to boogie board the big waves… how to spot the wave, paddle to catch it and lean into it so you can catch the “front side of the wave.” The kids kept hearing me say, “we gotta catch the front side of the wave,” and we caught some great ones that day.
There was the wave we all caught together… we didn’t realize we were riding together until all three of us hit the shoreline right next to each other, smiling ear to ear and just high on life with energy. It was an amazing day.
Later, I heard my girls describing our day to their friends…
My daddy was teaching us how we can catch the front side of the wave, and it was soooo fun!!!!
A few days later, my oldest daughter gave me this picture with the cutest note on the back.
Like waves, change never stops. And if you understand the characteristics of the wave (or the change), you can ride it and stay on the front side of it.
The most successful people ride the waves of change.
I wasn’t looking to teach my daughters a lesson that day in the ocean, but they caught onto the phrase “catch the front side of the wave.” And it stuck with them.
My daughters asked me about the concept again… about what catching the front side of a wave means, and I told them that “sometimes, you will have to face hard things you didn’t expect, but you control what you do next… see it as an opportunity, and you’ll ride the front side of it.”