What Will You Get Outside For? For Me, It’s Surfing
Me in Phuket, Thailand
People these days are lazy. But who can blame them? The call of social media, the latest TV shows, and the delicious food our restaurants and our moms are cooking has made us just want to sit down and relax.
But not me. Even if my work involves sitting for long periods of time (as the publisher of WhenInManila.com and an ex-radio host), I always make it a point to go out and exercise.
Most people exercise for their health. And that’s good. Because a healthy lifestyle makes people happier and live longer. They have more energy to do the things they want and at the same time, look good in whatever they are wearing. I’m not going to discuss the health benefits of exercise because I’m sure you all know them by now.
What I want to share is the mental benefits of exercise.
Me with my boards
My kind of exercise is surfing. Having spent some time in California for college and a few years working in the US Navy, it’s natural that I have a special relationship with the sea.
That feeling you get when you’re about to ride a huge wave gives me a thrill I can’t get anywhere in social media. And of course, nothing beats having conquered that wave. I feel like a champ!
I like the sea because it shows me how beautiful the world is. I’ve been to some of the best surfing spots in the world (many of them are in the Philippines, trust me), and it humbles me to realize how small we are with so many vast and beautiful places like Boracay or Palawan. It’s funny how it’s usually foreigners who are amazed by our surfing spots. I hope it’s because we’re used to having surf-worthy shores wherever we go, and not because we’re too lazy to see them.
At Zambawood, Zambales (Photo by Joanne Catherine Tan)
There’s an amazing thrill when you go surfing. It’s hard to describe it to someone who hasn’t tried it, but allow this writer to use the best of his abilities to use words to describe one of the best feelings in the world. To be honest, I still get scared whenever I go out to catch a wave. It’s one of those instances where I feel I am in the mercy of Mother Nature, that she can swallow me whole in the most beautiful way possible. But you’ve done this before, you know the feeling, and you want to recapture it, even for just a few seconds. So you paddle.
There’s an art to catching a wave, and when you do it, the only way to describe it is that you’re flying and you’re one with the wave. You’re one with Mother Nature. You forget about everything else, and all the things you used to worry about becomes a drop of water in this amazing wave. All that matters is that you’re here, you mastered the sea, and you’re showing it who’s boss. It’s a moment of zen. And like any other drug, you come crashing down. But you don’t care. You just want to do it again.
Sharing my love for the sea in AsianTraveler magazine
That’s why I go outside. That’s why even if we are becoming more connected to each other, using the fiber optics of technology, the best way to connect is to disconnect. And the best thing to connect to is nature and yourself. Because it’s when you’re pushed to the limit that you learn more about yourself and discover how far you can go.
You all have your wallpapers and screensavers of beaches, mountains, lakes, and hills, but you spend your life in an airconditioned box. It’s time to step out of virtual reality and into actual reality. A life spent outside is a life well-lived.
The question is, what will you get outside for? Who knows, you just might experience an adventure of a lifetime.
R.O.X. Philippines gives everyone chance to turn their dreams of adventure into a reality. The sporting goods store is holding a contest where you can get the ultimate outdoor adventure trip of your life, whatever it is. Just log on to the Facebook page to answer the question “what will you get outside for?” R.O.X. will be choose three grand winners to experience the different outdoor activities like camping/glamping, trekking, surfing, rappeling, while ten runners-up will have one adventure activity granted by R.O.X. Submission of entries is until November 8, 2014.
R.O.X. Philippines
Branches | R.O.X. Manila (B1 Bonifacio High St., The Fort, Taguig City), R.O.X. Cebu
(Ground Floor Active Zone Area, Ayala Center Cebu, Cebu Business Park, Cebu City), R.O.X. Pampanga (Level 1 – Marquee Mall, Angeles City, Pampanga), R.O.X. Baguio (Cluster C, Ayala Technohub, Camp John Hay, Baguio), R.O.X. Cagayan de Oro (Second Floor, Ayala Centrio Mall, Cagayan De Oro) R.O.X. Bacolod (Level 2, F- 201 the District Ayala North Point, Talisay City )
Website | https://www.rox.com.ph/
Facebook | R.O.X. Philippines
Twitter | @ROX_Philippines
What Will You Get Outside For? For Me, It’s Surfing
