I took up paddleboarding last year, and it's quickly become one of my favorite activities to invest my time in.

I love my work and still count the seconds until I can hit the water.

The cocktail of serenity, peace, and challenge is extraordinary.

Every morning for the past 8+ years, I write what I'm grateful for, it's a practice I began in prison, and the return on investment has exceeded anything I could have ever imagined.

This morning I wrote how grateful I am for yesterday's paddleboard session and a question I like to ask occasionally in my gratitude practice bubbled to the surface.

"Why?"

Why do I enjoy paddle boarding so much?

As I wrote my answers, a picture began to form, and it's so much more than the activity itself.

I see paddleboarding as a metaphor for life.