“Falling down and getting back up is normal… because without it, it wouldn’t be fun—there’d be no challenge,” said the instructor wisely… only to fall himself five seconds later.

That morning, I arrived full of confidence. In my mind, surfing was simple: stand up, strike a pose, done. Even before getting into the water, I was already imagining a slow-motion scene—me standing cool on the board, waves crashing behind me, maybe people clapping from the beach (in reality, it was just a guy selling coconuts).

The instructor started giving directions. “If you fall, just relax, okay?”

I nodded calmly. In my head: Fall? Probably not me.

The first wave came. I paddled with full enthusiasm, tried to stand… and in less than a second—splash! I fell with a style that even gravity couldn’t explain.

I came up to the surface and looked at the instructor.

He said, “Good! That was a progressive fall.”

Me: “Progressive how?!”

Tried again. This time I managed to stand… for about 0.7 seconds. Then fell again. This one was more dramatic. If there were judges, I’d probably score high in the “most committed fall” category.

In the middle of exhaustion, the instructor stayed positive:
“See? Falling and getting back up is part of the process.”

Five minutes later… he fell again.

I shouted, “Now that’s a real example!”

He laughed, “I was demonstrating… so you wouldn’t feel alone.”

After so many falls—too many to count without a calculator—I finally managed to stand longer. Not super long, but enough to make me feel like a world champion… until I fell again, of course.

But that’s when I realized… maybe the instructor was right.

If I had been good from the start, this story wouldn’t be nearly as funny.

Because in all those falls… that’s exactly where the fun is.

And as a bonus, now I have one new skill:
falling in many different styles 🏄‍♂️😄