Let it Flow

I went to the beach Friday with my husband, sister, my niece (4) and nephew (6). Friday was a full moon, the tide was on it’s way in and the waves, for this particular beach, were larger than normal.

Boogie Boards in hand, the 5 of us headed for the water. My husband was the first one in, followed by my nephew and my sister. I stayed back with my niece – the water was too cold for me! In fact, I used the word freezing as the water settled around my ankles giving me an ankle rush similar to the head rush I occasionally get when eating ice cream.

In the past, fear of being cold had always stopped me from enjoying a dip in the ocean. As I watched the others play and giggle in the water, I decided to turn this situation into an opportunity for personal development.

I asked myself “What are you afraid of the cold water for? What’s the worst that could happen?”

The worst that could happen is I would be cold. Suddenly that wasn’t a good reason.

Then I thought, “What would happen if you submerged your entire body into the water rather than just your ankles? Would you still be as cold?”

The answer in my mind became “No.” Then I thought about my career. “What are you dipping only your toes into, thinking too much about, and not doing?” Use the ocean as a baby step to move you forward.

I waited for my sister to come out to watch my niece. I grabbed my boogie board and without thinking, joined my husband and nephew on the waves.

I was right. By submerging my whole body, I no longer had that “cold rush” around my ankles and I was having so much fun. I was relaxed and fearless. I was laughing, giggling and hooting on every wave. I was 35 going on 6. And it felt incredible. I was energized and no longer cold. In fact, I didn’t even think about the cold. The rewards were so much greater than my original concerns. And my original concerns now seemed ridiculous.

I experience fear as I try to build a career on my own – as a speaker, writer – there is no one to hide behind making it easy get caught up in fears, wondering “What if” and thinking about failure. It’s easy to stay on the outside and just dip my toes. What are your fears? What are you resisting in your own life – whether personal or professional? Where are you just dipping your toes and what are you missing out on? We think it’s safer there. It’s not. By simply dipping our toes we miss out on so much opportunity. On Friday I realized that dipping just my toes can be more painful than jumping right in. When I “dip my toes” I think too much and block myself from experiencing true reward. Thanks to my Friday morning boogie board experience, I’m done missing out. I made a promise to start (with appropriate calculations on risk) jumping right in and experiencing all the rewards available to me. Will you join me?

What are you dipping your toes in and thinking too much about? What if you took a baby step the way I did? Have you? Share your experiences!

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