Awash in Fear

When in my early thirties, I took swimming lessons. One day I decided I wanted to dive off the diving board. I would sit on the end of the board, thinking courage would show up, give me a nudge, and I would just gently fall into the pool. It didn’t happen. Building up more courage, I would walk to the end of the board, but again courage was off doing something courageous elsewhere. Several times, I built up even more courage and would take off running to the end of the board, stop right at the edge, and my courage ran the other way. Courage drowned in a pool of fear and that fear engulfed my brain, body, and heart. Finally, after what seemed like an eternity, I jumped – and obviously lived to tell about it. This scenario will not fit everyone’s idea of what courage is and isn’t, but it’s my story and I’m stickin’ to it.