While writing the movie SOUL SURFER, (a true story about a
teenage surfer, Bethany Hamilton, whose arm was bitten off during a shark
attack) I discovered that Bethany went back into the water to try surfing again
less than one month after the horrific attack. When I asked her how she could have possibly
gotten the courage to go back into the water, especially so soon after the
terrifying event, she told me quite simply that she knew if she waited even
another day longer, she may never have gone back in again. She told me how some surfers can “psych
themselves out” after a gnarly accident thinking about all of the "what ifs"
and replaying the terror of the moment until they become paralyzed with
fear. And they never surf again.
How often we are faced with just such a thing in our own
lives – the waves beckon, but we stand frozen on the shore, wanting assurances
of perfect safety before we dive back in.
And because safety is never guaranteed, we often never get past dipping
a toe in before we turn away, too afraid to try again. When our idea gets shot down at work, we
decide it’s easier to just keep our thoughts to ourselves; if a movie we love
gets put in turnaround once again, we become jaded and begin to cater to the
lowest common denominator so we might not have to feel the sting of failure for
something we care too much about; and then there’s always the feeling of
disappointment after a broken relationships that keeps us from wanting to put
ourselves “out there” again, lest we be rejected. Fear threatens to keep us stuck on the
sidelines of our lives.
The great paradox is that vulnerability takes courage…you
have to be strong to let yourself be soft.
In a way, it wasn’t just Bethany’s body that was maimed in
that accident – her heart was broken when that shark took her arm, and in so
doing threatened to take away the thing she loved most in the world –
surfing. She could have walled up her
heart, wrapped it in bubble wrap to make sure she would never risk enduring
such a loss again – but instead she decided to leave the wound open and let the
saltwater heal it, taking back the waves she loved and refusing to let fear
win. Today she is one of the greatest
surfers in the world. A champion many
times over – and an inspiration to millions.
Risk is not easy, but I think it is much harder in the long
run to let loss trap you into living a bland existence, devoid of the joy of
triumph, and the glory of love.
No comments:
Post a Comment