Fearlessness and authenticity

This is my son Finn, one of my teachers, facing huge waves at Ka’anapali on Maui last week.   He plays in these waves with no fear at all.   Waves that are two or three times taller than he is simply wash over him.   He knows what to do, how to dive under the wave, how to swim in and out of currents, how to watch and read the sea, and his fear becomes play.   He taught himself to bodysurf.

Fear does funny things to us.   It makes us change sizes, for example.   When we are confronted with a situation that creates fear, we puff ourselves up to seem bigger than we are, or we shrink away to hide and not be noticed.   We do this by boasting, by telling stories that makes us seem more competent, more brave, more experienced than we are, or by engaging in self-deprecating behaviour that lessens our accomplishments, lowers expectations, diminshes our offerings.

It can seem like a challenge sometimes to just be the size that you really are, but I think when we are that size, comfortable in our skin and fearless in the moment, we become completely authentic.