For someone who grew up near the sea, learnt to swim by six and spent every summer of her life on the beach, I have an unreasonable fear of water.
Don’t get me wrong, I’m not one of those terrified, ‘I will not step into the water’ kind of people. On the contrary, I love the sea! I can’t imagine how people go for holidays to the mountains because its, well, NOT the beach! I really love the sea. But I’m also scared of it. Because I understand its power, and am overwhelmed by it vastness and depth, and i know what it is capable of and I hate not being in control. And when you’re in the water, you have no control. No matter how good a swimmer you are, at the end of the day you are at the mercy of the ocean.
So on my holiday in Sri Lanka when I suddenly found myself on a beach in full scuba gear ready to go to the bottom of the sea I don’t know if I was more nervous or excited. An experience of a lifetime was awaiting me, and I could either chicken out and let my fear deny me the pleasure of this experience, or I could accept the fear, put it aside and concentrate of the whole new world of coral and fish and swimming with turtles and everything else I had dreamt of.
Watching this Mountain Dew video kind of brought back that moment to me. This week Mountain Dew asked us to share stories of our real life encounters with fear and overcoming them. They believe that ‘Fear is a fact and one has to take risks in life to succeed.’ I think it is important that we accept fear for what it is, because on only the presence of fear can give rise to courage.
So when i stood there on that shore of Sri Lanka, I knew that fear was inevitable. but what i did inspite of my fear was what would count. So I took the plunge.
And never regretted it. The corals were so so beautiful! the fish!! oh my god, i don’t even know where to begin telling you about the fish! It was a whole other world out there. The fish just moved about regally, doing their thing, never really bothered by you or bothering you. It was like observing another dimension of life without being a participant in it.
What an experience it was! Exhilarating, uplifting, life changing. Today when i look back at that day a flash of panic first grabs me for a moment, thinking of all that water and me in the middle, so far from the shore. And then the beauty settles in. I yearn to be back and experience more of it. Im hooked. Scuba diving is definitely something Im doing again. Fear has never keep me away from the water, maybe it kept me just a little too close to the shore for my liking. But fear can’t keep me from going all in, but i’ve tasted success, and it’s a beautiful thing.
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To watch the other Mountain Dew films or read more about their take on fear, visit: https://www.facebook.com/mountaindewindia.
The reluctant writer writes 