In Shark Infested Waters

To know me is to know that I will somehow tie sharks into every conversation and this blog is no different. Throughout my year of attempting things and being brave, you will probably hear me reference shark facts, lore, and my own fears/love of them. However, with my partner now by one of the best beaches in Texas, I probably need to start to at least attempt to get in the water...which I haven't since I was a young child.

A little bit of my backstory on sharks, so that you can understand why I do not (usually) get into the water. The first time my mother allowed me to watch shark week with her, staying up way past my bedtime and hopped up on sugar from cookies, the first show that came on was a count down of the top ten most shark infested waters. Sitting at number 7 that year was the very beach that my family vacationed at. As most people would be, I became fascinated by the sharks that swam around the island and learned as much as I could about what was out there. The only catch was that I assumed they were waaaaaay out there, like miles and miles away.

Nope.

That very summer when swimming with my cousins at our family reunion I would get bumped. For those who don't know, a shark bumps into things in the ocean to figure out what is prey and not, which is part of why you should always stay vertical. Sharks prey are not vertical when bumped. Stay safe if you are going into their homes.

The bump was the last time that I got in the ocean beyond my ankles...until today. I got all the way to my consistently, but with how big the waves were, at times my hips. Now that we are here, one of my attempts will be to get all the way in again into the ocean. Does that mean I will dive headfirst tomorrow? Absolutely not, but it does mean that I can slowly get braver.

Today's attempt was a fail in that I didn't get completely in, but a success for setting goals and conquering the first step of a fear. And the best part of all of this is that if I get eaten by a shark as I try to be brave, I get to haunt so many people with "I told you so".

Love you big,

Adelaide