Hey Reader!

Listen, I am nothing if not predictable.

I never want to do ANYTHING.

Every time before we travel, I get all moan-y and think, "Why am I doing this? What I SHOULD be doing is sitting on my couch and watching TV and ordering Thai while revising my to do list because I have SO MUCH TO DO and leaving will only make it worse and I'll probably have a terrible time and spend it wishing I was deep cleaning my fridge and running errands."

And then 15 minutes into my vacation, I'm like, "We should definitely move here and NEVER GO BACK!"

I also do the same thing with anything that takes me the slightest out of my comfort zone, like, I don't know, SWIMMING WITH DOLPHINS IN THE OPEN OCEAN.

Damn magical dolphins.

I was staying with my extended family at this absolutely incredible location, overlooking this gorgeous beach, and everybody was getting all excited because dolphins kept swimming by and playing about 50 feet out.

Excellent!

I took a peek from our balcony, far away from the treacherous waters, thinking it was a real opportunity to see them in their natural habitat and what a great story.

Then my daughter decided to up the ante and get in on the action and paddle boarded out into the middle of them with her uncle, which highlights one of my biggest problems with kids: They do the stuff you wish you were brave enough to do and then encourage you to do it.

Damn inspiring kids.

As soon as I saw her eyes light up, I knew I was going out to hang with the dolphs, regardless of what my sensible side had to say.

Which was a lot.

Because there is a reason I have a highly developed sense of fear - SHIT IS SCARY.

And my body and brain don't work together that well.

Like I once brought a cup of water to a guy whose car was on fire. Instead of, oh, I don't know, the FIRE EXTINGUISHER that was sitting about two feet away.

You don't want me on your team in the Apocalypse.

So, my brain was on high alert, pretty sure that as someone who'd never paddle boarded in the ocean, much less surrounded by wild creatures who could bump said board, it was a VERY BAD IDEA.

I didn't listen.

Because, while I appreciate the excellent care my sensible side takes of me, it's often wrong.

If I only listened to it, I wouldn't have gone on the blind date where I met my husband, or moved across the country for no good reason, or started a business, or traveled abroad by myself, or even tried a different Thai restaurant that turned out to be much better than the one we'd been eating at for years.

And I sure wouldn't have braved the waves to find myself surrounded by thirty or so dolphins in the middle of the ocean, in what can only be described as one of the most beautiful experiences of my life.

Reader, there were dolphins surrounding my board, playing, coming close enough for me to touch them.

I felt so vulnerable, and connected, and part of something so much bigger than myself, and I risked missing it because I like to keep my feet firmly planted on the ground.

But, I didn't.

And that's the real moral of the story.

It's totally fine that I never want to do anything.

It's fine that I'm scared.

It's fine that I need others to encourage me to take the leap and even do it first to show me I'm not going to die.

Because in the end, I got in there and did the thing.

Now, I don't think this is true for everything.

I know I will never sky dive, or swim with sharks, or even go down that really terrifying slide at Water World because there's not any part of me that feels like I'm missing out.

But, when there is that voice, that nudge, that tells us we might regret skipping this one? That's when we gotta listen and move through our fear.

Dipping our toes into the unknown is unsettling and scary. And I also know: You can absolutely handle it.

Let's go swim with the dolphins this summer, k?

xx. Kara

PS: If you need some support moving through your fear, I have three coaching spots open for this summer! Go here to sign up for a free chat.

👆 YOUR "FEEL BETTER" OF THE WEEK!

Wait, is that an AMBULANCE?!?

Oh yes, my friend. Turns out when you're three kilometers from civilization they send an ambulance for your SPRAINED ANKLE. 😬

For someone who doesn't like to put people out, this was perhaps one of the most embarrassing things that could happen. Oh, and did I mention it was just a SPRAINED ANKLE?

Yet, everyone was lovely.

I survived.

And I'm so very happy that it wasn't a bit farther down where they would have had to send a HELICOPTER, which might have been the end of me.

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