Lessons on fear from the top of a yacht

Roberto jumped from the highest point of the yacht to the ocean below. No, wait, he didn’t jump; he actually did a swan dive. Gracefully executed. As he had done many times before (apparently). He was poetry in motion as he descended over 30 feet to plunge into the water.

I applauded him. Everyone on the ship did. We laughed. We smiled. And then he invited us to do the same thing. I gulped. We were in the Galapagos, anchored near one of its many enchanting islands. It was one thing to observe Roberto dive in. It was quite another to follow suit, to step (or dive) out into nothingness and hope for the best. I wasn’t feeling ready for this.

Some of my shipmates—tourists, teachers, fellow explorers—jumped in eagerly, without apparent hesitation. Somehow the three-story drop didn’t intimidate them. They emerged from the jump, bobbing in the water, all smiles and exhilaration.

But as I stood on the ship’s edge, I couldn’t bring myself to leave the sturdy deck. I tried to reason with myself. “It’s going to be great! It looks scary, but you can do it. If she can do it, so can you.” I’d try a countdown “One, two, three…” and then nothing. I’d look down and then back off the edge, time and time again. I vacillated so much, I ended up opting out altogether that day. Fear froze me.

I’ve been thinking about this moment last summer because fear seems so rampant these days. It’s not a passing fear of heights, obviously. It’s a pandemic of constant anxiety—a fear of sickness, an uncertain future, and even proximity to one another.

When the angel appeared to the virgin Mary, thousands of years ago, he brought good news. But immediately after she heard his words, “Greetings, you who are highly favored! The Lord is with you,” the Bible says that Mary became greatly troubled. So, the angel reassured her: “Do not be afraid!” Later when the angel of the Lord appeared to the shepherds, they also had to have their fears allayed: “Do not be afraid,” the angel said.

Why? Why did the angels have to remind people so often to “fear not”? I believe it’s because even when we know something good is coming, we can become apprehensive. Mary, the shepherds…and us.

Change is uncomfortable. Even if exhilaration and joy are right around the corner. Change is hard. When circumstances (or even people) shift, there comes a moment when you step out and feel nothing firm beneath you. There is nothing to cling to. You are in the air, between the now and the not yet. The shift can feel interminable and very scary.

And that initial step is even harder to take when you can’t envision the promise or possibility of a good outcome, when there’s no angel and no glory of the Lord apparent to the naked eye.

In my estimation, fear limits our vision. It freezes us. It keeps us living small, safe, yet anxious lives. When we cast fear aside, however, we become open to the possibilities of exhilaration and a new level of living.

There is a shift taking place today that is shaking our world. It’s uncomfortable and scary, true. But it holds promise, too. We have a new opportunity to awake from our slumber of consumerism and complacency and replace it with a greater sense of commitment to life and compassion toward others.

I didn’t fling myself off the edge of the yacht on that day last July. But, on the following morning, I did. How did it feel? Extraordinary. Freeing. And, yes, exhilarating! (So much so, in fact, that I stood up and danced on the lifeboat that brought me back to the yacht afterwards!)

So, I urge humanity to cast off fear that blinds us to the positive future that awaits. Personally, it helps me to remember the message of hope and favor given to Mary and the shepherds. That message is for us, as well. And this hope will equip us to shift from an ordinary life to an extraordinary one.

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Hilda Labrada Gore is an ancestral health advocate, a certified health coach, and podcast coach.. She is the host and producer of the Wise Traditions podcast and Tradiciones Sabias podcasts, on behalf of the Weston A. Price Foundation. She is the author of “Podcasting Made Simple.” She is also a YouTuber, helping people live their best lives through experts, experiences, and epic adventures. Hilda has energy to spare thanks to her ancestral health practices and her love for sunshine and liverwurst.