SURFING SOAPBOX: You can live your dreams every day

Speaking at the Boys & Girls Club (TLC branch) last Tuesday brought back so many good memories of being a young boy with nothing more than a big dream — to one day become a professional surfer — and I did that. I, too, once sat in a classroom and listened to those before me like Tom Curren (three-time world champion) who made my dream seem real to me.

So it was a great honor for me to stand before the next generation of not only surfers but also the great youth of tomorrow, letting them know that through a great work ethic and discipline, dreams can and do come true.

I am proof of that. My whole life now is about giving back to the very sport that has given me so much, helping the next generation in going after their dreams.

You never know until you try and it doesn’t matter what your dream is.

Becoming a poet, dentist or a world traveler, don’t let anyone or thing (especially drugs) interfere with living your dream. And for the nay-sayers who are going to tell you that you can’t, you thank them for motivating you in striving for those dreams and when you succeed, you just smile at them.

Because your actions will always be stronger than your words.

Talk is cheap, and people love to talk. In my opinion there is nothing worse than the person who knows everything yet does nothing. It’s always easier to sit back and criticize others when you choose to sit on the sidelines, risking nothing. Without all those people in my life who sat there pointing a finger at me and telling me I couldn’t, maybe I wouldn’t have, because they made it personal for me in achieving my goal of one day becoming a pro surfer. So it’s only natural for me to want to help others in achieving their dreams — and the use of drugs is one of the fastest ways to lose sight of those dreams.

Nothing hurts me worse than seeing someone’s dreams flushed down a toilet because of drugs. It brings tears to my eyes, because I lost one of my best friends to drugs and have seen firsthand the effects that drugs have on a person. Drugs do not discriminate. They will take your heart and rip it out, and they will do the same to those who love and care for you.

There have been many things in my life that I have been able to “right,” and I am proud of that. It is never too late to change. Every day is new for us, a day that we can change. A new day to seize the moment, to take back our lives and most importantly chase our dreams. If there is one thing I could say to the next generation with hopes and dreams, it would be “Don’t ever, ever give up.”

Peace.

JAMES PRIBRAM is a Laguna Beach native, professional surfer and John Kelly Environmental Award winner. His websites include AlohaSchoolofSurfing and ECOWarrior Surf.com. He can be reached at Jamo@Aloha SchoolofSurfing.com