So, I finally tried surf kayaking today! And it was a success! Trying new things always brings up so many interesting thoughts for me. Where is it that we find confidence to tackle new challenges? Is it from the support of our peers, or the knowledge of our abilities and natural talents? Or is it just pure determination that pushes us to jump out of our comfort zone and into a new environment and possibly danger? Standing on the beach in my wetsuit, orange life-jacket, yellow helmet that didn't really fit, a paddle heavy and foreign in one hand and a sea-bearing craft they call a kayak in the other hand I saw the ocean through totally different eyes. How am I going to get out there? And how am I possibly going to surf this thing? I was scared. And then frustrated for myself for being scared. Surf kayaking is something that I have been wanting to try for so long and yet I felt so eager to just back out and grab my surfboard instead. On my surfboard I would feel confident and comfortable. Strapped into this kayak I was in a totally new place. I knew I would feel good about myself and my abilities on a surfboard, but I had no idea what the emotional results of trying to surf kayak would be. We so often fall back on what we know we are good at to avoid the risk of failure or defeat. But, that is the excitement and importance of trying new things. The challenge of attempting new things or exiting our comfort zones are true tests of one's self. The more I do it, the less I fear failure and simultaneously gain an understanding that it is okay to fail sometimes. Although trying something new and failing can be a rather large emotional let-down and a slash to the ego, it is so much better to try something and not succeed then to have never even given yourself a chance. Leaving the beach I felt very proud of myself. Interestingly enough, it is not even the awesome rides I got that make me feel the most glorious, it is the fact that I made the initial decision to paddle out into my fears that make me feel like I succeeded.