Sharks!

“What would you do if you weren’t afraid?” -Spencer Johnson

If there was no fear in you, what would you do? Would you skydive? Would you go bungee jumping? Would you invest into the stock market? Would you gamble? Would you try to rekindle a lost friendship? Would you tell her what you’ve always wanted to tell her?

So why don’t you?

Fear is not necessarily a bad thing. It keeps us from doing stupid things like juggling hot coals (though that does sound fun). Many times it is simply a manifestation of our self-preservation instinct. If properly contained, fear is helpful in that regard. It’s irrational fears one should be afraid of, and that’s usually what gets to us.

“Courage is doing what you are afraid to do. There can be no courage unless you are scared.” – Eddie Richenbacher

Surfing is one of the most relaxing and fun hobbies that I have come to love. I enjoy it so much, that I bought extra boards to lend my friends who have never tried it before. I got extra boards so that I could share the joy of surfing with people I care about.

The funny thing is that for many people who have never tried the sport, the first thing they think of is not how exciting and cool surfing is, they don’t think about how relaxing it is to sit on your board and just stare at the sunset, nor the feeling of nirvana you attain when you catch a wave, the tranquility you sense in your feet as you ride a wave in and just look at the coast, but instead, the first thing they think of is sharks!

This is an example of an irrational fear.

According to the International Shark Attack Files (yes it’s a real thing), the odds of you being attacked by a shark are one in 11.5 million. Being killed by a shark? Zero in 264.1 million!

In fact, the six most feared but least likely causes of death are all events that have been hyped up by the media. Other than the media being a greedy money-hungry heartless whores of a bitch that tries to exploit stories and over exaggerate the facts to spin events to their own benefit (sorry, don’t like them much, different story); the other reason these stories get so much attention is because they are so rare.

Car crashes on the other hand, are very common. It’s so frequent that the media only tells us about it when it sounds cool and involves explosions and many Hollywood type injuries. In fact, you are waaaaaaayyy more likely to get into a car accident than get attacked by a shark.

Odds of YOU getting into a car accident – 1 to 6,500

Odds of YOU getting attacked by a shark – 1 to 11,500,000

Has that stopped you from driving your car? Then why is irrational fear stopping you from trying something fun and new?

“Do one thing everyday that scares you” – Eleanor Roosevelt

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