Facing the Dark Water

31 Days of Fear Facing This past October I decided to face a fear every day. If it sounds hard, good — you are right. However, the benefits far outweighed the actual fear. This week I’ll be sharing some of my experiences and highlighting the insights I gain – some are massive insights. Today’s Fear Last night, I decided to face a fear that I did not conquer (after two attempts) in the last month: Swimming in the ocean at night. I am not scared of many things—like public speaking or conflict, or singing or dancing in public, or snakes, bears or cockroaches, or never being loved. I am not scared of being broke, obese or not raising my children correctly. But, when the list of fears came out of my head, it was pretty scary—who knew all that was living in there? After all of the things that I faced in October, swimming in the night sea ended up being one of the top three scariest. Facing, But Not Conquering Fears The first two attempts to swim in the night sea were disappointing, but brought amazing insight: 1) You cannot see –and more importantly, you CANNOT HEAR a wave in the dark—until it is too late and they are already crashing upon your head. This made it extremely difficult to get past the wave line to the point where I could actually swim in the dark water. 2) This lack of warning is scarier than the slimy fish I stepped on, or the slimy seaweed I swam through, or even the currents that blendered me when my flippers were ripped off. Conquered Fear Last nig...
Source: Conversations with Dr Greene - Category: Pediatricians Authors: Tags: Perspectives Parenting Source Type: blogs