In the Hands of Water

Well I know it wasn’t in ideal time, but I have finally gone on a moonlit…

SWIM!

It took me till the end of the Harry Potter series to stir up the nerve and I have to tell you it was exhilarating!

I felt free, excited and terrified. I really just felt alive! Whirling around in the dark was exactly what I needed to boost my confidence to take more risks—to really get my nerve up and do the things I want to do. I have always felt safe in the water, so it really just showed me that taking a chance might lead me somewhere pretty amazing.

There is a little body of water hidden about a half mile away from my house. Trees, bushes, and a forest of wild flowers hide it from everyone who hasn’t been in my small neighborhood, consisting of five families, for more than five years. I call it the “water hole” and it just so happens to be the perfect place to swim.

However, getting there is a tricky task, especially in the dark. You have to walk down my dirt driveway, across the main road, crawl under some barbwire, and then make your way through the brush. It was extremely hard, but definitely worth the trouble of a few scratches and falls. Well, that and the constant fear of some wild animal jumping out and devouring me. I know that would be an unlikely event, but what can I say, I wasn’t exactly thinking rationally at the time.

When I finally made it to the water pool I stripped off my clothes and leaped in. It was freezing. Ice cold. But at the same time it was so amazing just floating around, naked as could be, looking up at the stars. I forgot all my fears in those few minutes. I felt like I was one with the water. No worries or difficulties, just me and those tiny molecules carrying me in empty arms.

Water is an incredible thing. It makes it possible to live, but can take away your life in a second.

(Photo: Peter Clark: http://www.photoshopcreative.co.uk/show_image.php?imageID=1957)

A Moonlit....?

I am currently reading the Harry Potter series by J.K. Rowling.

Yes, I am a Harry Potter fan.

There is so much adventure. Dangers lurking around the corner just waiting for Harry, Ron and Hermione to stumble, or run head long, into. Secret passage ways, in a huge exciting school, waiting to be explored! Enemies who will do anything to bring each other down. Twists that spin emotions out of control.

The best part -- I can experience it all just laying on my couch!

But I have decide. It's my turn to take a little adventure for myself.

While reading, I noticed that most of the adventures Harry and his two friends take are during the hours of the night, and, since my motivation sprang from this story, I've decided my adventure should also be moonlit.

I have no idea what I am going to do. I have no idea if I will do it with my boy friend, with some friends, or by myself. I don't even know what night I will do it on this week.

All I know for sure, is that it is a risk I am willing to take.

I hope it'll be amazing!

A Bucket of My Adventures

What's going to happen next? WHAT!??! You don't know?? WHY THE HELL ARE YOU HERE THEN!!! How can you not know?

These are the thoughts that pass through my head every time I take a risk. Well, actually, they have recently returned to my thought process. I used to be absolutely terrified of life, and I guess I still am to an extent. It's a mystery. It's a series of adventures and you have no idea where they are going to take you. It's a long and bumpy journey to an unknown land, in unchartered water.

What's not to be afraid of?

Then I read this quote somewhere by Buddha:

"If we could see the miracle of a single flower clearly, our whole life would change."

Believe it or not, this quote changed my perspective of the world.

To me it says, "If you don't experience the beauty of life, your world will never grew-- it'll never change into what you want it to be." If somehow I could see the miracle in the single flower-- a tiny, beautiful, flower-- then my world would some how change into something wonderful. Something sprouted in me, something I had never felt before. The thirst for adventure. For life. For independence.

That short, seemingly meaningless quote drove me to...

create a BUCKET LIST!

By creating a bucket list I was about to begin taking risks. I began experiencing life. It led me to try things I would have never thought possible before. It led me to find a way out of things I didn't enjoy, meet new people that I love and care about and who love and care about me, and pursue my dream of starting my own business!

But something has happened over the past year. Somehow I lost that drive to take risks. The unwelcome fear has slipped back into my head. So today, I am officially going to start the process of overcoming that fear again! My bucket list consists of a variety of different things like smile at a stranger, to singing karaoke, to sky diving. Each week I am going to try to do something different, that I have never done before, whether it be written on my list, or it be spur of the moment. Hopefully over time I will begin to do more than one thing per week, and eventually not have to think about it too much before I take a risk.

I hope to never forget the beauty of taking risks again!