Facing My Fear

15 Facing My Fear When I was a kid, I was afraid of water. My brothers and sisters, on the other hand, were just like fish. They loved water. They loved to jump in pools or lakes and swim all day. But not me. Whenever I was close to water, my body shook with fear. On hot summer days, all my friends said, " Hey! Let's go cool down in the river. " And away they went. Me? I stayed home. When we were younger, my parents took us all for swimming lessons. I made a fuss, crying and screaming. Finally, my parents said I could stay home while my brothers and sisters learned how to swim. Then, when I was ten years old, I spent a summer vacation with my grandparents in the countryside. They had cows, sheep, pigs, chickens and best of all-a horse. I loved that horse. There was only one problem. Each day, I had to take him down to the river for a drink of water.

Can you imagine how that turned out? The first day, I led it to the river. But when I got close to the water, my old fear got the best of me. I turned back. Grandpa saw that and said not to worry -he would take the horse to the river. That night after supper, Grandpa told me to get a pair of shorts. He took me down towards the river. " I am going to teach you to swim, " he said. " You have nothing to fear. ' He held my hand as we got close to the water. For some strange reason, I was not afraid. First, we sat by the water and just talked. I slowly got used to the water. Then, holding tightly to my grandfather's hand, we walked into the water up to our knees. Gradually, after a few days, I was in the water, swimming with my grandfather. Can you imagine how good that made me feel?