The wave knocks over the kid who stands stiff. The one who ducks under comes up on the other side.

Meeting force head-on means absorbing all of it, and standing firm is only an advantage when you are stronger than whatever is arriving. Against something much bigger, rigidity is the thing that puts you down. Going underneath is not surrender; it is letting the force pass over a smaller target while you keep your footing. The water was going to break either way.

Notice where you are bracing against something you cannot overpower this week. An argument you keep restarting, a rule you cannot change, weather on race day. Try going under it once, then see what you have left afterwards.