Some say that man can live without emotion, but can emotion live without man? Behind the concepts of reality lies an interdimensional realm of possibility, yet it is only accessible through the ways of emotion, whether it is courage, fear, love, or even sadness. Emotion is real, but you can’t touch it or see it, you can only feel it. The peculiar feeling of emotion quakes the world, everyone having their own mindsets. Of these emotions is courage, courage is not given at birth, it is acquired over time.

I sit here now, remembering the days when there were no worries, when my whole life revolved around the latest topics. It takes no courage to live life, but if you have no courage you will sure as heck live a lonely life. As I grew up, however, I began to gain responsibility, and some of it not as delightful or enjoyable as I’d hoped for. All I had to do was face my fears, and one above all, water. It’s not like I wouldn’t go into the water, it was the sheer fact that I wasn’t ready to enter the aquatic world, where there’s water surrounding you from all sides and one breath can end your life. From that day on I knew it was not going to be easy, but I knew that it would change my life forever.

I spent my days in school, just waiting, waiting to see the day where I finally had enough guts to introduce myself to the old, dark, scary world below the surface. Now I may have only

been 5 at the time, little and cowardice, but today was different, when the day came, I knew it, I knew it right from the beginning. My young blood was itching to get in the water. I had changed.

It was a beautiful August day, the hot yellow sun beating down on my tan chest as I prepared for swim class, my short proper buzz cut itching from the sand. Today was the day, and I knew it. It only took about a year of swim class to finally get me to even consider it, but today was the day. I was quite the coward, but to me, this was huge. As the convoy of six or seven kids, most of us eagerly excited to take our first swims, headed out into the main lake. I began to feel sick. So sick in fact that I was almost ready to turn back, but I didn’t. I stuck to my words, I was going to do this today, and no one could tell me otherwise.

“Everyone ready?” our instructor asked
“Yeah!” the group replied.
I stuck to my values and made it this far, there’s no turning back now. Small voiced, I replied “It’s my time.”
“Three…” My heart is racing,
“Two…” My eyes begin to tear up,
“One…” What have I gotten myself into?
But it was too late, my head shot underwater, my ears filling with liquid and my mind filling with terror. I had been pushed.


“Open your eyes” I told myself, not really caring that I had been pushed, and that is exactly what I did. The world was beautiful, sandy as ever, the only thing that had changed was that I couldn’t breathe. I didn’t mind that, go down and admire the views, then come right back up.  I had inducted myself into that world because of one thing, and that one thing was courage. My skinny bodied, young hearted, self , courageous as ever. What a beautiful world it was, what a beautiful world.

Courage was gained that day, not only gained, my sense of courage was enhanced. I sit here now, looking back at all that has happened over my years, realizing that I would not be who I am without courage. Courage is what empowers us all, not just to do simple things like this, but also great things, things that could change the world. I believed that I could do anything, and I have kept that value ever since, the value to face my fears. Sure, it may take some time, but remember this, a life full of fear has no meaning, because fear is what hides us from our true selves, so the next time you’re faced with a fearful situation, face them off. Face your fears because you will never know what good can come out of them if you don’t. One last thing to remember; Confidence is a virtue, but it won’t get you anywhere without a hint of courage, and the only way to be courageous is to face your fears.