The whole time I was surfing yesterday, this song was running through my head:
You got to know when to hold ‘em, know when to fold ‘em,
Know when to walk away and know when to run.
You never count your money when you’re sittin’ at the table.
There’ll be time enough for countin’ when the dealin’s done.

-Chorus from The Gambler, by Kenny Rogers

But, I wasn’t hearing those words.  I was hearing these words (or something thereof):

“You gotta know when to paddle, when to skedaddle

Know when to dig, dig, dig; know when to bail

You never count your waves while you’re sittin’ in the lineup

There’s time enough for countin’ when the surfin’ is done”

Everyone who hears that song says it is absolutely a metaphor for life.  Namely: enjoy, be in the moment, be serendipitous.  Also, be smart: don’t count your chickens before they’re hatched.

Every surfer story I hear that ends with stitches starts with “The day would have been perfect if I could just get one more wave. . .”

Last night, I got out before I was entirely exhausted–merely mostly exhausted.  I didn’t end on my best wave, but I got out when I was done.

Saturday, during the Beach2Battleship Ironman Triathlon, while doing water support on my (borrowed) standup paddleboard, I pulled a swimmer out who was suffering from hypothermia.  Because they’re disqualified (officially) after getting out of the water early, I didn’t want to make the decision for him to bring him out.  He asked me to and I did.  He knew when to quit.  And that decision saved his life.

Postscript: he didn’t really quit, though.  After he warmed up, he finished the race, and came in 177 out of 700.  The time it took to warm up was roughly the same amount of time it would have taken to finish the swim, plus about 30 minutes.  He started the bike leg in almost dead last.  And then he finished.

Know when to hold ‘em.  Know when to fold em’.

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