OVERCOMING FEAR

I have a pretty intense fear of water due to a bad experience with it when I was really little. I wouldn't put my head underwater until I was about 8 and learned how to swim at a similar age. Then once I learned how to swim, I was like a little fish. I was at the YMCA all the time or at the outdoor pool in the summertime all the time. I loved it. Growing up near Chicago, I obviously wasn't getting any exposure to the ocean or a feel for what it's like to swim in it. The extent of my swimming took place in pools or lakes where the water is pretty still and very inviting. My first ocean experience was in Italy when I was 20. The wave took me out and I swallowed a bunch of sea water. I got out and didn't go back in that day. I didn't attempt to go back in the ocean until moving to California. My first attempts were in LA where the temperature of the water doesn't shock all of your muscles into tensing simultaneously. I did okay. Never actually "swam." I then decided it was ridiculous that I harbored a fear of the ocean and that I needed to do something to get over it.

Surfers - Man, I've always been attracted to surfers and surfing, and the more I watched them, the more I wanted to be able to get out there and do it, too. This past year, I was determined to learn. So I did. I've been 3 times. Each time was terrifying, but each time also got easier. Yesterday was my 4th go and I actually popped up AND more importantly, it was the first time I went in without fear. I'm not sure which I'm more proud of. Yay! I loved it and I can't wait to get back in there.