Can I?

Fear

Fear is such a twisted feeling. Yet if we did not experience fear then what would be the point? A world without fear is dull. No excitement for rollercoasters, horror movies would be boring, camping would be meaningless. Fear is supposed to give us a taste of life. Fear is like an ocean. It's those small waved that lick at your feet. It's those waves that you surf one. It carries in shells and treasures that little kids pick by the shoreline to stash away.

 Yet there is that type of fear when it overpowers us.

Waves toppling us over.

Currents drawing us into the deep parts where we may drown.

Seaweed that tangles our feet and holds us as prisoner as a wave engulf us.

That's when we need friends. Someone to save us. I'm not saying don't try to save yourself. Just let others save you if you can't do it alone.

Don't drown if you had the chance to grab onto someone's hand.

Because you might have just saved your pride, but you definitely did not save yourself.

Do you remember that time when you went boogie boarding and went to go try out some waves? I do. I strayed a safe distance and just waited. I waited for the perfect wave. Then I saw it.

I saw the dark wave rolling quickly and climbing up. This wasn't good. I knew it right away. So I began to paddle away. Other swimmers were smarter and stayed where they were.

I just thought about running away. Well, swimming away.

But every time I pushed away one arms length the wave pulled me in for three.

The absent life guard did not see me flail around in the water. My parents did not see my 8 year old self try to escape the clutches of the wave. I did not see myself. I turned my head around at the perfect moment to see a looming , glaring wave crash down.

I went unconscious for ten minutes. I don't remember why. I was told that I hit my head on a rock.

I shouldn't have ran away from that fear.

It could have been easier, but sometimes when we try to run from a small fear we make it larger as it chases after us.

So I ask you, my dear reader. What is your fear? Is there a fear you can overcome? Is there a  fear that will shut you down?

Sometimes writing our fears in the sand is better than keeping them in stone. So write them in pencil. Let the waves roll in and take them away.

Let your fear be conquered.

We might not ever own fear.

We might not ever own the ocean.

But we can try.