Under the Water - Samantha Clarkson

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“I’m terrified of things under the water. I hate touching anything when I’m swimming because I never know if I’m stepping on a lobster or a slippery rock.”

My sailing instructor scoffed at my words. “I hate to break it to you, but there’s always something under the water.”

I hadn’t expected to be heard. Everyone was focused on themselves and I was just talking to the void.

He was on the shore, I was treading water in the ocean, stubbornly refusing to look down or to put my feet down on the rock that I knew was there. The instructor had let my group sail to an island in the middle of the harbor, where we’d docked our boats and spent about an hour swimming or exploring. My peers were either on the shore or in the water near me.

At the time, I just said something along the lines of “I know, but I don’t like it.” and continued on with my life. Now, I can get a deeper meaning from this interaction.

“There is always something under the water.” That means even if you refuse to look for it or look for it but can’t see it.

It’s the same in life. No matter what you do, there’s always something that could go wrong. Driving to work? You could get in an accident. Baking a cake? You could forget an ingredient or leave it in the oven too long. Most of the time you’re fine, but there’s always the possibility of something going wrong.

But here’s the thing: I love swimming in the ocean.

There have been days where I’ve spent more time in the ocean than on the boat. I’ve accidentally-on-purpose “fallen” out of the boat, then been yelled at because I’d already been told to stop fooling around. I’ve asked friends to “push” me into the water just so I could get in a few minutes of swimming.

There are risks to everything you might do. There are people telling you not to do some things, and you have to decide to do it anyway. Sometimes the risk is greater than the reward, and sometimes the reward is greater than the risk. You have to face your fears and the potential consequences of your actions.

I’m not saying you should disregard authority, warning signs, or jump headfirst into shallow water, but I’m also not not saying that. (Except for the diving into shallow water part. You could die. Jump feetfirst instead!)

There is always something under the water. Are you going to swim anyway?