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| RIP Andy Irons: 1978 - 2010 |
Behind the legend, Andy Irons was only human
The reason for this blog was prompted by a short video by Billabong which highlights Andy Irons and contains some interesting, candid admissions by the man behind the public image. The bits that caught my attention start at the 50 second time stamp. You can view it here:
I often marvel at the minds behind individuals of immense talent. I find it both inspirational and, at times, admittedly a bit disturbing. The inspirational part comes from hearing their stories and how they rose through the ranks to reach the pinnacle of their career. I love to hear their methods and techniques they've used for keeping mentally anchored, focused, grounded in order to weather the storms of life on their meteoric rise to the top.
On the other hand, I find it disturbing because I realize that, when the lights die out and the crowds go home, it leaves something to be desired, a persistent longing. You're a hero for the moment in the eyes of adoring fans, but then the next day, average Joe is like, "ok, that was fun. Right, now I need to go to my J.O.B. to pay the bills." How do you process and reconcile all this? It's a common story really. How many famous musicians, actors, sports stars have you heard of that have had complete meltdowns, later admitting that the pressure and expectations from the public, team owners, sponsors etc just got to be too much? You get high on the high, but then come to expect it. When it's not there, it can be downright depressing.
Never get drunk on your success
One of the things I've realized in life is when great things happen, you NEVER get drunk on your success. Never start beating your chest and blowing your own horn. Appreciate what's happening in the moment, be grateful for it, live it, feel it, I mean truly experience it in that time space, but never let that fleeting moment rule your mind, as it only sets you up for a massive let down. Great, so you won the Super Bowl. Awesome! On Monday morning, everyone is back to their own lives and nobody really cares anymore (or not as much)!
Lowrider?
Surfing as medicine
Andy Irons: "I have a lot of inner demons. If I didn't have surfing to get those out of my system I would self destruct. Surfing's the only reason that keeps me going in the normal state. It keeps my life on an even keel. without it, it would tip into oblivion."
WRS: Here's a three-time world surfing champion putting himself in a very vulnerable position, cathartically confessing his inner demons to the world. I can SOOO relate to this comment. I swear there are days where it all gets to be too much and the minute I get to the beach and smell that salt air, before I even hit the water's edge, I just feel like I'm back to being human again. It reminds me of an old advertisement in the surfing mags back in the 80s, maybe a Billabong ad, that said, "sometimes life sucks....then we go surfing!" I realize not all readers of this blog are surfers, but whatever your therapeutic version of surfing is, you absolutely unequivocally MUST embrace it. If you're into other sports, music, art, dance, whatever, I cannot overemphasize the need for your own form of mental therapy!
Overcoming mental fatigue
Andy Irons: "I swear, I'll be honest, I wasn't having fun. I was going out putting a jersey on, doing what I was supposed to do and it was just repetition. I really lost my will to compete. I wouldn't be doing it right now if I didn't have the will. I mean it's not as strong as it used to be but I know it's growing....."
WRS: I think this was filmed a few years after Andy had won his three world titles and had been having a rough patch, working on battling his way back to the top of the crop a la Occy in 1999. These comments in particular really resonated with me because the very thing that he loved had lost its luster to some extent. Maybe it was the ultimate let down going from the very top of the EXTREMELY competitive surfing world to losing the alpha male position in the hierarchy. I loved that he was getting back to his roots and embracing the very thing that had propelled him to surf stardom. I also saw that he was awaiting the birth of his first child which, no doubt, would have been an important catalyst to keep him on track. But alas we'll never know.
On Resilience
Andy Irons: "....I lost so many heats to get to where I was. I lost to a girl in my first contest ever. And I quit for a year and never touched a jersey. And I had to pick up the jersey after that and get back in there. And that's the only reason I got to where I'm at, or I was at, five years ago when I won those titles. And, you know, I haven't won the title in a long time, but you know I'm getting back in the jersey and I'm not winning heats yet, but I gotta start somewhere."
WRS: Again, another testament to the age old value of resilience. The people that win in life are not always the smartest, biggest, strongest, or whatever, but are actually those who can commit errors, learn from their mistakes, harness the wisdom, and keep getting up after each beating to eventually rise to the top (if you're not making errors, then you're probably not pushing your boundaries). And they unquestionably appreciate their spoils when they do arrive! It's not the actual winning but the winning when viewed through the lens of just how much hard work it took to accomplish that win. Anything worthwhile in life takes hard work.
Myth of the Leprechaun
When I look back over my own life and reflect upon my successes along the way, I also pay a sincere and heart felt homage to the failures, difficulties, sacrifices etc that it took to accomplish each of them. In very few cases did so-called "luck" have anything to do with it. I love the expression, "I'm a big fan of luck....the harder I work, the luckier I get."
I can recall a personal story from 1996 when I was living in San Diego. At the time I was working on my masters degree at San Diego State University, living in a nice house on ocean front in Mission Beach, surfing nearly every day, had control over my work schedule, great network of friends, a wonderful social life, I mean just the quintessential perfect Southern California lifestyle in the eyes of all outside observers. One day a friend visiting from the east coast came over to catch up, reminisce about old times, have a surf out in front of the house. During our conversation, she paused, looked around and, upon reflecting on where I was in life at that time, said to me, "Wow, what a life....you really got lucky!" I was shocked, I mean thoroughly offended. Luck? LUCK? What did luck have to do with anything in my life? They didn't hand me a winning lottery ticket when I crossed the California state line. I went through a tremendous amount of personal hardship by leaving my former life on the east coast, showing up with minimal funds, no job, no social network, no guarantee of a successful academic transfer to SDSU. And to push through those storms of life by taking it a day at a time, all the way through to the point of finishing my PhD, well, deeming what I'd worked very hard for as "luck" was a dismissive slap in the face and only served to slight the blood, sweat, and tears associated with coming to California (and later New Zealand) and "making it."
Getting back on track, it is this spirit of well-guided RESILIENCE that must be harnessed and properly employed in each of our lives. Though he passed on much too soon, I am convinced that had he lived, Andy Irons would have come throttling back to a top spot in the ASP pecking order. But if anything "good" (given the unfortunate circumstances) can come from this tragedy, I am hopeful that his story, the good, the bad, and the ugly, will leave a legacy which will help educate and inspire generations to come.
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