sprain knee jumping off my board into shallow water - learned to not do that anymore, although I did one other time and landed my heel on a rock which was painful and reinforced the lesson.
surfboard to my mastoid (bone behind ear) that almost knocked me out - learned to cover my head when coming up no matter where I think my board is
leash wrapped around and strangled my leg resulting in the nastiest biggest bruise my leg has ever seen (pretty much my whole thigh) - learned that that's possible and thanks to surfing-waves forum I store my leash loose to keep it more straight as opposed to wrapping it around my board.
leash wrapped around fingers coming out of the water - wave sent my board flying and fractured my finger badly, needing surgery - lucky I didn't lose it, learned that the ocean is infinitely powerful and not to drag my board out by the leash anymore
bailed head first in front of my board and the wave knocked my fin into the top of my foot resulting in a nasty gash and stitches - learned to bail further from the board and also sanded down my fins a bit.
my latest was on Saturday - lip of wave hit me in the ear just so as I was paddling out, thought I perforated my tympanic membrane (ear drum) because it felt like a wind tunnel in there and was extremely painful, but it was just badly inflamed. Got some magic drops from a local doctor who said the edges of the membrane were nasty looking and there was a little water behind it.... but was totally fine by the next day, although each time I got out of the water, I felt like I had water in my brain. learned that when in doubt it's better to just turtle roll than try to stay on top of your board and paddle through. I did get to experience a Dominican IV (for pain) though!
Your life is made of two dates and a dash - make the most of the dash.