A shark ate my courage

The thing about me is that I love to be in the water. I'm a swimmer. I'm a fish. I'm at home in a pool, I'm in heaven on a river and the ocean is something that calls my name.

Most every vacation I've ever been on involved some kind of water activity: scuba diving, river rafting, river sledging, snorkeling, kayaking, paddle boarding, trying to surf (I've decided that I'm physically incapable of surfing. It's one of those things that looks like loads of fun but is actually really hard.).

And even though I love the ocean, there is always a little voice whispering in my ear, "Hey you. Yeah, you, with the tasty looking appendages. Don't you know there's sharks out there?"

Sharks scare the bejesus out of me. And if Preston reads this post, he's going to give me crap about it because they scare the bejesus out of him too. The only way I get him in the water is with the First Choice Rule. It goes like this: if you're swimming in the ocean, just make sure you're not the furthest one out, and make sure there are swimmers all around you. So if there is a shark, it has to swim past lots of other choices to get to you.

I don't think he knows I'm scared; I put on a good show. And what's weird is when I go diving, I actually get excited to see sharks. Probably not Bull Sharks, but maybe White Tip Sharks, or a Nurse Shark. So many divers crave diving with sharks, I think it gives me courage. Probably I just don't want them to think I'm silly.

Have I ever SEEN a shark? No. I've definitely been in situations where I was acutely aware that I was in a place that looked like sharks were readily available. Like scuba diving in murky water in southern Costa Rica, or looking up to see that I've drifted away from all the other snorkelers in Hanalma Bay, or surfing in Galveston or swimming out to the umpteenth sand bar in South Padre on a boogie board.

And it's not until I get in the situation that I realize I'm scared. It feels like someone is staring at me and that someone is a sneaky, hungry shark.

And it's no better in lakes, thanks to my friends who told me about the TV show River Monsters. It's just more irrational.

So there you have it. Sharks are my super fear. Sharks and heights. The thought of heights actually makes my feet sweat, but I can see a height coming, not always true for sharks.