The Before...

The anticipation of wondering whether or not paddling out is going to be as good as you hope is something every surfer encounters.
You conciously factor in the variables of crowd, water temp, wave consistency, and tides during the couple of minutes you change and start walking towards the water line...
Mind games.
Luckily, as long as you try to have fun no matter what, keep those expecations down, and just have a great time. No variables can keep that stoke factor supressed.