Kate Chopin Would Be Proud...Or Would She?

Today I went to the beach to read and catch some rays, because despite all the bad habits I've managed to break from my Southern upbringing (i.e. Crisco, white bread, sugar water sweet tea), getting a fabulous tan is still one of my vices. It makes me happier to be brownish rather than pasty white, ok? I get that I will have more wrinkles (and risk getting skin cancer), so yeah, I've totally reeled it in some, but I'm not Nicole Kidman. Pale does not look good on me. Pale makes me look sick, tired, and worst of all, ugly.  I digress.

So I'm at the beach.  Also went to the beach on Friday, where I tried to get in the ocean; just putting my feet in was enough to make me wish I had a sweater.  Naturally, my hopes were not that high for swimming today. 

After three hours of sitting and reading, I decided what the hell, let's check on the water temperature today. 

Nope. Still cold.

And then something inside snapped. The thing that makes me behave rationally went on vacation or had a short or something, because all of a sudden, it became imperative that I get in that fucking freezing ass water.

Damn. It. I hate it when I do this to myself.  I decide I'm going to do something stupid. I realize shortly thereafter thing is stupid, but by then it's too late. I've set forth a goal, and I'll be damned if I'm going to quit. My daddy didn't raise a quitter (told ya, Southern upbringing).  So there I was. Stuck. Probably moments away from going into hypothermia or whatever but completely incapable of stopping it.

I'll skip the part where I inch in body part by body part until I suck it up and take the plunge because the plunge. . .it was fantastic.  It was cleansing and invigorating and beautiful and yes, cold as balls, but then I couldn't stop. 

Afterwards I felt very satisfied, proud of myself for going in when no one else would, for using the beach as it was intended rather than using it as a glorified sun deck. It reminded me that sometimes we need to push ourselves to the edge, even jump off the cliff, to truly experience life and learn that we are far stronger than we once believed. It helps if the weather is warm and there's a towel handy, but you get the drift. : )

Next time, jump in.