'My belief is that heaven and hell are metaphorical terms for what you make of your life - in any instant, you have the ability to make your life total pleasure or total hell.'
The words of the nine times world surfing champion, Kelly Slater, resonate. We are not, as confirmed by the antics of Tiger Woods, John Terry and Peter Crouch, in the habit of looking to sporting professionals for moral or spiritual guidance, and their position as role models is being called into question.
Whilst Brand Beckham has shown that ours is an era where sport breeds celebrities, Slater, arguably one of the great athletes of our time, remains focused on the job in hand – winning his tenth world title. He excels at a sport that has not yet reached the mainstream, but is on its way. Aside from a short stint in Baywatch, his relative anonymity outside of the surfing world is refreshing, and in contrast to those footballers whose extra curricular activities, as their performance in the World Cup proved, are quickly out-shadowing their sporting achievements.
Slater, born and bread in Cocoa Beach, in the sunshine state of Florida, he has all the ingredients that would qualify him as a sporting celebrity (good looks and major sporting talent), yet there’s a fundamental difference. Whilst other sports professionals might bask in the glow of their accumulated material wealth, and the lifestyle it affords them, Slater basks in a positive mental outlook. Surfing for Slater is simultaneously his raison d'etre and his escape.
What is it about surfing that makes it such an internal, and therefore spiritual experience? Surfers are at the mercy of the ocean, they relinquish control to nature, a higher force. Staring down a ten foot high wave carries consequences, even for the professional and they will experience fear in the same way as you or I. The difference lies in how they deal with this fear and their trick is turning it into excitement. Notoriously it is the lack of control, the not knowing what the wave is going to do next, that defines the nature of the experience.
Surfing and spirituality have shared 3000 years of history. But it's Slater that spearheads the current revolution. In a world which glorifies physical highs – be they alcoholic, narcotic or materialistic – Kelly Slater, whether he realizes it or not, is championing a spiritual form of hedonism.
Through surfing Slater shares one of the secrets of the universe: the ability to turn each millisecond on a wave to his own advantage. It is this which at the age of 38, ensures he is invincible in the face of competition, and has been for the past 18 years. He’s a brilliant role model for our day to day lives.
Through his success and his attitude, Kelly Slater makes a clear statement: All the power we posses is instilled in the moment; and the onus is on us to champion it and exploit it but ultimately, to make sense of it - it's the total hell, or total pleasure, as Slater describes.
