I must tell you, I'm terrified of drowning. But this September, I decided to face my fear and take surfing lessons at the Kovalam (Covelong) Beach in Tamil Nadu. Once I got on the surfboard I knew there was no going back. To my surprise, I was still alive by the end of the day, and this felt like reason enough to show up the next day. I hoped things would be easier, now that I had some experience. But the waves were a lot higher the next day, and the fear creeped back into my bones. The instructor helped calm me down, and asked me to look for the smaller waves. The thing about surfing is that you first go towards the wave, and then come back with it to the shore. So when my instructor gave me the greenlight for a wave that we both thought was small and easy to surf on, I soldiered on. But, just a moment before I was supposed to stand up on the board, I realised that this was no small wave. In that instance, as my brain was reprimanding me, a voice emerged from within: “I am on the shore, I cannot drown here.” It worked. For the rest of the course, I kept repeating this line to myself, and managed to ride the wave 8-10 times. It’s funny how we come up with such simple and effective techniques during the scariest moments. This week, our stories, newsletter and articles at The MMS www.multimediastudio.net in forum looked at how businesses find ways to come up with their own simple and effective solutions in scary times. That’s all for this week! Write to me about the times you had to face your Fear my Dear.
