Where the Magic Lies

Sure that sounds like there is a catch to it, some talent or gift or luck involved. And truthfully, only the latter applies and not in as a big a way as you might imagine.

Whatever it is that you do, be it running or painting or fixing or building or surfing or diving or anything else really, it doesn’t matter what it is. What matters is that you do it, and what matters more is how often you it and for how long. The where is not that important, and generally speaking is preferential or circumstantial.

I often wonder how many lyrics or songs I have to write before I write something impactful. Something moving. Something relatable. Probably hundreds and maybe thousands. To write that one song that feels like magic, where I can honestly say I created something special and it’s magical.

How many paintings do you think the world’s best had to make before they made one that felt magical when they made it and looked magical when they were finished? From their very first painting to their very first magical painting? Impossible to say, but my guess is somewhere between 30 and 1000. Sounds like i pulled those number out of thin air, right? I did, but not entirely. It takes 30 days to build a habit, to really tap into the flow of doing that thing. That’s where you first allow the possibility of something magical occurring to happen. So, in the first instance it’s unlikely, but definitely not impossible. And after that who knows how long it will take, but I’d bet by the time you’ve done it a thousand times you’ve made something really special. Something that feels, looks, sounds or behaves like it has some magic in it.

Because I’m a child of the ocean, I like to use surfing and waves as examples of things in life, and I think they’re perfect analogies and examples for many things in life. How many times have I paddled out and had a good session where I caught lots of waves and caught a couple really good ones? How many sessions have I paddled out and had the complete opposite experience, and just got worked and thrown off my board and held under and hit by the lip and ended up paddling against the rip for 40 minutes instead of actually surfing? Probably more of the latter. So where’s the magic then?

The magic is for sure in the good waves, the ones that put an ear to ear grin on your face, the ones that make you feel giddy after you kick off. But that’s not the only magic. Some of those bad days you end up catching the wave of your life, or having an epiphany sitting out the back, or having an awesome chat in the ocean with your buddy, or ending up in a really gnarly situation flirting with death and still coming home that day with your life intact.

The point is, in whatever it is that you decide to do, you never know what you’re gonna get, and you only know what you came to do. You showed up and did the thing regardless of any other factors. You still showed up. It’s in that showing up, that you discover you actually love doing the thing for the sake of doing it more than you love the high highs or hate the low lows. You paddle out when it’s 2 foot wishy washy and the wind is howling and the water is freezing just the same as when you paddle out when it’s 4-6 foot glassy and lippy. And when you get out you still feel stoked no matter how the session went. Why? Because you showed up and did it.

So my message for you today is that the magic lies in showing up. Time and time again, just showing up. Figure out how to love the journey, and you won’t mind where it takes you and where you end up. The magic lies in doing it for the sake of doing it and loving to do it regardless of good days or bad days. The magic happens in the little moments too, and the only way to find those is to be there for them when they happen. Next time it’s not perfect or even enticing, do it anyway. You have no idea what you’re missing out on if you don’t show up.