Rami Beracha: The Day I Stopped
Making Excuses and Started Making Waves
Rami Beracha admits that he spent years telling himself he'd try kitesurfing "when conditions were perfect" – calm winds, warm water, maybe after losing those extra fifteen pounds. Then he met Sarah, a double amputee who was gearing up for her third session of the week in choppy, freezing water. Suddenly, his list of prerequisites felt pretty ridiculous.
The thing about excuses is they're incredibly creative and surprisingly logical. Too windy, not windy enough, water's too cold, gear's too expensive, don't have enough time to learn correctly Each reason sounds perfectly reasonable in isolation, but when stacked together, they start looking like an elaborate defense system designed to keep you safely on the beach.
Sarah's approach was different She didn't wait for ideal conditions because she understood something most of us miss: there are no perfect conditions. There's just today's wind, today's water, and today's opportunity to figure something out Her prosthetics weren't perfectly designed for water sports, the forecast was marginal, and she was still learning to read wind patterns. She went anyway.
What struck me wasn't her fearlessness – she was clearly nervous about a new kite she was testing. It was her comfort with imperfection. She expected things to go wrong, planned for multiple equipment failures, and brought backup gear for her backup gear But she showed up ready to adapt rather than waiting for a scenario where adaptation wouldn't be necessary
The contrast was embarrassing Here I was, with all my original limbs and years of theoretical knowledge from watching YouTube videos, hemming and hawing about whether the wind direction was optimal Meanwhile, she was out there actually learning through experience, building fundamental skills through real practice, getting comfortable with real discomfort.
That day changed how I think about readiness. We tell ourselves we're being responsible by waiting for better circumstances, but often we're just being scared Real readiness isn't about having perfect conditions – it's about being willing to work with whatever conditions actually exist.
The irony is that "perfect" conditions are often the worst time to start something challenging. When everything's easy, you don't develop the problem-solving muscles you'll need when things
inevitably get difficult Sarah's prosthetics forced her to become a more creative, adaptable kitesurfer than most people with standard equipment ever become.
Sometimes the best thing you can do is stop planning for perfection and start practicing with whatever you've got. The water's never exactly the right temperature anyway.