Anything I do, I want to be good at. I honestly don't get that stoked beating people or being better than people. Contests are fun sometimes, but I don't have that crazy drive. So I like to challenge myself and get past any mental barriers that I have.... I expect a lot out of myself, and the fact that I ... live this amazing lifestyle, I better be pretty damn good at it and try and do some stuff.... If you're not, what the hell else are you doing with your life? You'd better have some passion for things or hold yourself to high standards or you're just getting by. I don't want to just get by.
It's just the challenge of being new at something and actually picking it up quickly and trying to be really good at it, you know? There's a difference between cannon fodder and actually getting a job done. I like applying and challenging myself. And I'm out actually doing something. I mean, I can challenge myself to beat some fucking video game, but what do you get out of that? What are you going to tell the grandkids one day? "I beat level 10 of WitchCraft." Or whatever the fuck it is. At least these are real experiences.
[T]he only guarantee you have in life is that you're going to die. So why can't you accept that that's going to happen and live your life now? Live like every day's your last instead of acting like [you] will be around forever. People get locked into this routine like they will have another opportunity another day. Ever since I was a little kid, I've been aware that I could be gone tomorrow, so I'm taking advantage of it while I can and trying to get some things done.... Everybody wants to pick [how they'll die], but it's not up to me, it's up to God. But I'm not trying to die; I'm trying to live.... I'm a firm believer that God's got my date written down and that's when I'm going. All I can do is make the most of what He's given me until then.... You don't know when you're going to go; you have to make sure that all of your friends and family know you love them... 'cause you might not see somebody again, or you might not be around.
[C]ut the bullshit and be yourself and start living life. Get to the point. Stop beating around the damn bush and get to the point on things.... Stop worrying about what people think of you. Cut loose. Get things done. I just hate seeing fear. Like, everybody has fear, I have fear of all kinds of stuff, I guess, but it's just insidious. It doesn't get you anywhere.... It's just all the crap we learn, like not to trust people, that make us all scared. You get a little older, have some experiences; and... you get all that scar tissue from the world you grow up in and people you're around, bad experiences and good experiences, and we get scared. We need to get back to the human we're created as....
I'm not curing cancer here; I'm paid to surf. I could be doing more noble pursuits than I am now. But hopefully what I do helps inspire somebody to actually live, and get out of their routine, and do what they're put on earth to do.
-- Mark Healey (Surfing magazine) April 2011.
Tuesday, February 15, 2011
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