Surfing is like sugar. It comes in many forms and has a predictable affect on the brain. When sugar hits my tongue I get an immediate reward shortly followed by a strong craving for more.
I can’t remember a single surf session where I’ve caught one good wave at the beginning the session and then thought to myself, “Okay that was great. That’s all I need. I’m gonna go in.”
On the other hand, sometimes when I haven’t surfed for a few days, I don’t feel that big of an urge to surf. This is especially true when I know the conditions are bad or I’m somewhere with no waves. But as soon as I know there’s an opportunity for surf I start craving it. And once I catch one wave, I crave more immediately.
Sugar can be similar. If it’s not in front of me and I haven’t had it for a while then I don’t really think about it. But if that Cookie is there, I’m gonna go for it. And if I have one cookie, I can have five.
But while sugar can make me sick, giving me some sort of sugar hangover – and definitely a moral one – surfing never has that effect. What pulls me out of the water is having to be somewhere else, the sun setting, a tide or wind change that ruins the conditions, or simply being too tired to catch more waves.
I’ve never exited the water because I felt bad about how many waves I’d caught.
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