'Better Starts Now' means to me to wake up every day to push my limits higher than the previous day, knowing that the time is now. I want to achieve all the goals that I've set for myself. And after the pandemic, 'Better Starts Now' is actually more relevant than ever.
In the beginning of the pandemic, it affected me a lot. I was very confused and had many questions to myself, like what was going to happen with my life, or will I still be good enough when I come back? But then I was able to turn it around and it had a very positive effect. I learned so much with just meditating and having lots of thoughts for myself to process multiple thoughts and training my brain to become the strongest muscle in my body. The pandemic to me means a step back to have time to get stronger and appreciate my surroundings.
I was in Costa Rica during the lockdown and it was very hard at the beginning. We couldn't do anything. But then, slowly, I was just living day by day, and for the first time in eight years I had quality time with my family, and we did so much fun stuff together. My brother and I, we built a Motocross track in our backyard and we were just riding every day and having a really, really good time. I did a lot of physical training, but mostly it was mental training. I had a lot of time to think and I surfed a lot in my mind. Pretty much that's all I did all day!
Yeah, the first day I made it back to the sea and could surf again was just amazing. I was with a couple of friends out there and, pretty much every wave we got, we were just screaming our lungs out. It was like the first time I surfed a wave ever in my life when I was a kid. I can remember it. I just went for the wave and I was just screaming, like, 'Wow, this is the coolest thing ever.' So it kind of gave me that feeling back. It was definitely an amazing day going back. Yeah, my daily life is just: wake up, go for a surf, train, and, yeah, it's pretty much back to normal except for the competitions, but it feels good to be back in the water.
There are a lot of good initiatives. As the ocean is my place of work, we all need to do our best to preserve it. I use reef-friendly sunscreen for example. I take my drinking bottle to the beach to avoid plastic bottles, and I always take three pieces of trash from the beach. So, if everyone is doing their part and only leaves footprints in the sand, we're winning.
To just live day by day. And there are so many things that can make you happy, especially the small things. And to listen to a lot of music and dance to it like there's no tomorrow.
Thanks to everyone. Hopefully we'll see each other in the water one day and … 'Better Starts Now.'
About Leon Glatzer