“If life were a race, it’d be the most unfair contest in all of sports. Rules would change by the minute, teammates would turn to rivals (rivals into teamates), and the thing would never end — every finish line crossed would quickly reveal the blurry visage of another checkered line that feels impossibly far away. It seems to me that the best of us are more like surfers than racers, and to them life is more like the ocean: predictably uncertain, unspeakably fun if you know how to handle it, unbearably relentless and frightening if you don’t. So many serious affairs in life are governed by timing and chance, and I tend to be happiest when I’m figuratively paddling hard out into the sunset and riding the one in that feels right. There’s really not much more anyone can do.”