That’s it, right there. God is in charge of it all – he’s in charge of our lives. Where we are going, what we are doing. We will go where we want to go, but I always put Him right in the thing. If I’m going up to San Onofre, or going down to surf – whatever I’m doing, I want Him to be there. I want to be reflecting Him in all that I do. His love, His wisdom – I want to pass that on to others. It doesn’t always happen, but that’s the goal. That happiness, right there. Seeing God working in your life? How much better can that be, you know?
So you believe that God had a plan for you. That this is what you were supposed to be doing?
Oh big time. He had a plan. Even when I went down South – in my ghetto period. I was out there- the Devil had me by the throat and was leading me around. But God just let me get through that and then as life got better, I’d take a few moments and go, ‘Oh Man, thanks. This is so much better than when I was back in the ghetto period.’ Nothing touches God’s heart more than just being thankful. Thankful for anything. We live in such a great place: here in the United States, in San Diego especially. We’ve got so much to be thankful for. But most of the time, we’re the other way around. We’re going, ‘Well, why don’t I have this,’ or ‘Why don’t I have that.’ But we are so blessed. The problem is here in the United States, especially, we have too much. We’ve just got too much. Simplify. I’ve always been that way, I try to keep it simple. Keep the business simple. Keep everything simple. So you’re not encumbered with so much stuff, you know?
What are your favorite surf spots in San Diego?
Well, my home spot is Tourmaline Canyon. I caught my first wave in PB – it was just soup. But, I caught my first real swell just north of Tourmaline in PB Cove. I grew up around the point, PB Point. That’s my home spot. I like Sunset Cliffs a lot because you got the kelp outside that keeps the chop down from the regular onshore wind. San Diego in general is really one of the best spots. I’ve done a lot of traveling, surfing around the world… and I mean here, you’ve got North County which is really good with all its reefs – Cardiff and Swami’s, even San Onofre. San Onofre in the summer, that’s all I think about. July through September. You’ve got Trestles and Church and that whole area is still untouched really. You drive in and it’s all dirt roads, man hasn’t messed with it too much. But we live in a really, for water sports and surfing in general, we live in a really wonderful place. We should enjoy that. Rincon used to be my favorite place. Rincon and Malibu. Rincon in the summer and Malibu in the winter. But they’re so crowded now. My 50 years of surfing was in 2008 and so we all went up there, and had a great time.
What is the best advice you’ve ever received?
It’s all the Bible. That’s the learning book for the human beings. There’s so much good advice in there about everything. One thing is just having a giving spirit. Human nature is more of a taking spirit. Everybody wants. They want this, they want that. But I’ve found that, especially when you’re really down, if you really get down, go out and help somebody. Just go help Mom or Dad or whoever. Find somebody and do something for them. That will take you out of any funk that you ever had. Doesn’t take much, just a little bit for somebody, man. Go find somebody on the street and give them a dollar. Whatever. Just helping somebody out sometimes, somewhere, will always take you out of the pity party or the funk, or whatever you’re in.
Do you have any advice for 20-somethings trying to find their way?
Stay away from alcohol and drugs. I’m a living witness to that. I’ve been there and done that, and it didn’t help at all, man. It just made things worse. It might feel kinda good, kind’ve euphoric for a moment, but there’s always a bad side effect of it, you know. So stay straight. God gives us just what we need – He gives us sound mind and everything – just what we need. Eat good. Eat vegetables and fruits. They say the body is the temple for your spirit, so keep your temple clean, make it good. I gotta talk to myself that way because there’s a lot of foods, like Mexican food and pizza, like I get these pizza cravings. But ehhh, that’s another one that tastes good but it’s not good for you.
Moderation.
Yeah, moderation is a good one. Even the way you eat. They have this Bible study down at the beach on Saturday mornings, but they were talking about how the word of God is like the food for the spirit, like physical food is food for the body. And they say the best way to eat is to eat little meals all day long. That’s what I do, I eat breakfast, and then at night I’m just (gobble noises/laughter), and that’s kind of a bad way to eat. But the same way with the word and having your time with God, you should have little breaks during the day. That’s why I have ‘Jesus Calling’ here. It’s kind of like happy hour with Jesus. You just get the calm and quiet time.
In this day and age, it’s hard to just get alone, be quiet, and decipher your thoughts. Usually when I get up, I’m the first one up in the house. I’ll make my tea and go sit in the front room, in the quiet. I’ll just talk to God and try to listen. He talks to you through your mind. It’s that still, small voice. And that’s another thing about drugs, see. The dark side talks to you, too, through your mind. And when you’re normal, the dark side might say, ‘Hey Man, you can take that, don’t worry about it. Go ahead, you can pinch that bit off of there. You can take a couple puffs.’ But when you’re on drugs it’s like, ‘HEY YOU!’ (Shouting/Laughter) It’s more intense.
