Seriously?

Surfing is great. Listen to the guys in this clip. They are so cool.

Burrrrrrr-oh. Bro? Bro!

Brad Gerlach is the most obnoxious of all! Anytime he talks in a DVD segment I want to eject the disk and snap it in half. And the SoCal surf drawl started in the OC and adopted by the 909 elite sounds like a child with a learning disability who just got back from getting his mouth numbed at the dentist.

Highlights:

"You're out in the water, your team, and if you rip, errrybody pats you on the back. If you bog, you feel like you let your team down. And that makes people GOO for it!"

"Kyle, take your jersey off!"

"Playin' it safe to the beach doesn't work in this. Go for it! Rip! You know? Try an air! Fall, who cares? You know?"

Avoiding Pride's Pitfall

Last week in Sunday School we had a lesson about the pride cycle shown above. It was good and I was left wondering how to cut from the "blessings" stage back to "humility and repentance" without going through the muck of the bottom half of the cycle. Reading this morning I was grateful to find the answer in a BYU-Idaho meeting summary. It was called "Stopping the Cycle of Pride".

My three take home lessons I gathered were as follows:

1) To say "grateful" or "blessed", rather than "proud of", when speaking of your hook-ups. 

2) To keep your nose in the scriptures (especially the Book of Mormon) to see and avoid pride. 

3) To avoid the desire to be recognized and "seen of men". 

The slides gave the following list to stay humble during blessings and prosperity:

-conquer enmity with others

-receive counsel

-forgive others

-give selfless service

-preach the word

-go to the temple

-repent & be born of Christ

-Love God - put Him first

Another good talk on the subject and more commonly known is President Benson's "Beware of Pride" talk. 

It is hard to not fall into pride. I do it all the time. As soon as things start going my way it is easy to slack and expect the blessings to continue. Hopefully you are above all that, but just in case I hope these ideas and links help. For some reason all this reminds me of scrooge as someone who rode the waves of the pride cycle...

Something is missing...

I saw a lady with no nose today.

Pulled up to a red light and she looked over towards me. I was pretty sure she had no nose so I pulled up closer to see and caught the side profile. Definitely no nose. From the eyes a straight line down to protruding lips.

This picture of MJ was the least disturbing a google image search for "no nose" turned up.

Stud

I am sold on McCain. Loved the part of his speech where he encouraged activism on the part of individuals who are dissatisfied with the direction politicians are taking us. 

"If you find faults with our country, make it a better one. If you're disappointed with the mistakes of government, join its ranks and work to correct them. Enlist in our Armed Forces. Become a teacher. Enter the ministry. Run for public office. Feed a hungry child. Teach an illiterate adult to read. Comfort the afflicted. Defend the rights of the oppressed. Our country will be the better, and you will be the happier. Because nothing brings greater happiness in life than to serve a cause greater than yourself."

I think our greatest problem in the country is apathy. When people pursue their own financial interests it may work well for the economy, but in doing so we must not forget to incorporate service and giving. Plus, I agree with the argument that Obama just doesn't have the experience necessary for the job. McCain is tried and tested and a better choice. I still would rather have Giuliani or Romney, but oh well. So far I'm liking the arguments for McCain. Still open for suggestions.

Chandeliers Brah.

Met up with an old friend (Dan Hulme) yesterday and surfed in Pacifica at Rockaway beach. Whenever I check that spot- which isn't often- it is horrible and no one is out. However, yesterday there was a pack out right against the south cliff and a 6-7 foot right breaking into a channel. Low tide was making it throw a little. My wave of the day was a big set and was so fun!!! Dropped in and it was kind of holding back so I turned left to get deep, then turned right as the whole section walled out in front of me and hit the shallow sandbar. Seeing it coming I set a high line on my too floaty 6'4'' epoxy Dan loaned me and the green wall heaved over me. Inside the barrel was all green- no foam- and the sound was like the sucking of a draining tub amplified. After pulling into weak little summer barrels the last few months it was a reminder what a real hollow barrel is. I hardly had to crouch! Should have made it out but the board was so floaty and the fish tail didn't really stick so I caught a rail and went up and over with the lip I was watching two seconds earlier. Stoked!!!This is the wave. Not many were barreling- the one I got was a little surprise.

Check out this video of chandeliers galore!

Click!

Adam Sandler movie that has been on DVD for a while. The acting is as un-amazing as you would expect, but I actually liked the storyline because it got me thinking about how important it is to enjoy every moment of life as we pass through it.

Basically Sandler has a "universal remote" and is able to fast forward past parts of life that he doesn't like- work, marital problems, errands, sickness, etc. He just skips ahead to the realization of his goals of promotions which will buy him enough time to just do what he wants. Ironically, he misses out on what he wants to buy time to do. The happy ending is that it was all a scrooge-like vision of how horrible his life would turn out if he didn't get his priorities straight.

I realized how I'm still on the way to some major goals and need to enjoy the process, rather than obsess about getting there so much that I drone out in present. Life the last few weeks has been subtly different and it feels great to develop new and old friendships. We will reap what we sow. Sometimes it is hard to remember that the reaping should be of eternal value, rather than temporal. Getting caught in the daily grind it seems easy for the tail to wag the dog and for our sub goals to trump major goals. The scriptures break down simply what I am feeling with all this...

Matthew 6:19-21

"Lay not up for yourselves treasures upon earth, where moth and rust doth corrupt, and where thieves break through and steal; but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust doth corrupt, and where thieves do not break through nor steal: For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also."

If our treasure is what we want most we will get it. The question is whether it will be worth it when we do. So then what is of the greatest worth?

D&C 15:4, 6

"For many times you have desired of me to know that which would be of the most worth unto you. And now, behold, I say unto you, that the thing which will be of the most worth unto you will be to declare repentance unto this people, that you may bring souls unto me, that you may rest with them in the kingdom of my Father. Amen."

Why? Because the worth of souls is great in the sight of God. (see D&C 18:10)

Nothing better than sharing the truth! And the truth is the other great thing of value. The scriptures are worth our time and also the means of doing that which is of most worth (helping others)-

Alma 37:8-10

"And now, it has hitherto been wisdom in God that these things should be preserved; for behold, they have enlarged the memory of this people, yea, and convinced many of the error of their ways, and brought them to the knowledge of their God unto the salvation of their souls. Yea, I say unto you, were it not for these things that these records do contain, which are on these plates, Ammon and his brethren could not have convinced so many thousands of the Lamanites of the incorrect tradition of their fathers; yea, these records and their words brought them unto repentance; that is, they brought them to the knowledge of the Lord their God, and to rejoice in Jesus Christ their Redeemer. And who knoweth but what they will be the means of bringing many thousands of them, yea, and also many thousands of our stiffnecked brethren, the Nephites, who are now hardening their hearts in sin and iniquities, to the knowledge of their Redeemer?"

Yeah, who kneweth? Millions so far. Good hunch.

Anyhow, Click is a dumb movie- but the take home lesson was a good one. Made me re-eVALUEate what kind of treasure I am gathering. The simplest way to create eternal value on a daily basis is to lay up the truth through the scriptures and share it with others. Killing bugs? Not so much.

Escape!

On NPR today I heard something that got me thinking. Woody Allen explained how film was always an escape for him as a boy and how that escape developed into filmmaking in adulthood. He described the joy and magic of being in a bar scene compared to the dull reality of actually going to a bar. After completing projects he wants to get right into another so that he can escape. (I would too if I lived in New York City!) Listen to the interview if you want.  Woody Allen on NPR

I agree with Allen- the world is a dull and dreary place. It seems all of us want to escape it at times (or maybe all of the time) and we all have different hatches to get out. The tired old saying comes to mind, "You can tell what kind of person someone is by what they do in their free time." With the aforementioned thought in mind, I would change that statement to say; You can tell what kind of person someone is by their escape. Woody is obviously an entertainer at heart. If your escape is watching football and playing video games you are probably a true competitor. If you love to shop for clothes and clean you may be a perfectionist. You can do your own escape palm reading.

Some escapes produce meaningful results, others can be wasteful. We can morph our escapes to produce whatever we want most. Playing video games isn't going to produce much, but participating in a softball league will get you friends and in shape. It is important that we recognize the roots of our escapes and if we feel a need to modify them into more productive activity, make sure that we fulfill our personal needs that the current escape provides. This is the best way to kick bad habits and incorporate new ones. You have to fill the hole with a similar shaped filling for it to stick. 

So listening to Woody talk about how his escape morphed from watching movies as a child to making them as an adult made me wonder if I could modify some of my escapes into activities that would create more beneficial outputs. I think we all can. Happy New Year and may all our resolutions and goals come to fruition and make us and the world a better place, if only a little.

What are your escapes? Productive or not?