The Precious Second

Photo credit:2ndlight.com

Have you had a precious second? It can be found in any sport, and even any activity. It is as precious as gold, and as transitory as life.

For me, the precious second can be found in its most profound, purest, and repeatable of times while I’m surfing.

This intense second is a moment in time — measurably insignificant in terms of a stop watch — but in the realm of inspiration, impact, and feeling it is more intense and more profound than hours on end of another activity which has not yet reached this pinnacle of experience.

In truth, the surfer spends far more time paddling than actually riding waves. Even more than this, at most surf locations, riding a wave usually consists of only seconds. The reality is however, each of these seconds is nothing short of utterly mind blowing. I could go on a casual bike ride for hours on end and have the utmost enjoyment, but those precious seconds experienced riding a wave impact me far more — they literally infuse my spirit with life force.

You know you’ve experienced the precious second when after a long day of engaging something you love, though a particular moment lasted only a mere second, its memory is etched in your mind, and you replay it over and over again throughout the remainder of your day. There are even instances where you replay it over and over again for the rest of your life. These are the precious seconds I speak of.

Potential examples of the precious second:

• Hitting a jump shot with the defender right in your face.
• Pulling off a wicked skateboarding trick.
• Hitting a tennis ball with perfection, the sweet spot rings in your ear.
• leaping to catch a football which has gone a little astray.
• Hitting a baseball, smack!
• Getting barreled surfing.

Have you experienced the precious second? I’d love to hear from you, tell us all about your precious second, where did it originate from?

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