What Matters Most

(Originally posted 6/19/14)

I love my kids more than anything and am a very focused and invested parent.  Well, let's be honest, I think all parents can admit to the fact that they aren't always as focused as they know they should be.  That was me today.  I'm ashamed to admit that all I wanted to do was disappear somewhere and shoot waves and be left completely alone.  Not that they were driving me crazy or anything, not at all.  I guess it was just one of those days where I needed to be in the water, one with the water.

Anyway, I found myself trying to shoot a few pics while not neglecting the kids, but with them climbing all over me and wanting to play, other random kids showing up out of nowhere and playing around exactly where I wanted to shoot (c'mon kids, those waves aren't even rideable!), and the sun teasing me with its game of peekaboo behind the clouds, I found myself getting super irritated in general.  Kind of not the point of being in the water!

Finally at one point I realized where my mood was going and decided I needed to check myself, put the GoPro down, and play with my kids.  We dug deep holes in the sand, buried them up to their bellies, and spent REAL time at the beach.  I got a couple of decent shots out of the few minutes where I was able to have a good moment line up, but I realized that was far less valuable than the time put in focused on my kids.

Pursue what you're passionate about, but don't forget about the things that matter most!

Epic mini shack, epic mini humans.