Look, I don’t like water. If my hair gets wet, it goes curly. And not beautiful curly locks, but frizzy curly. Not good. Not pretty. So if I do venture into water of some sort (a pool, lake or beach), I’m not about to dive in and I try with all my might to stay away from potential splashing. Besides, I can barely swim and the thought of a fish or something swimming by my feet makes me even more wary of large bodies of water.

But at the same time I’ve been learning to have fun again. After having children and giving them my all, I sort of lost my ability to have fun in the sea of motherhood. I forgot how great it is to play and how being adventurous makes you feel alive. So now I’m getting back in the water – one toe at a time.

Yesterday we spent a day at the beach: warm sunny Huntington Beach, California. 300 plus kids in red swimwear trained on the shore as part of a lifeguard summer camp. I thought to myself: “How cute, but gee, I never wanted to be a lifeguard. Too much water and responsibility.” But regardless I figured if anything went wrong, maybe two or three of the pee-wee lifeguards could fetch me out.

And so when my husband joked with me to go boogie boarding with him, I jumped up to his surprised and grabbed a board. “You’re not seriously going out there, are you?” he said a bit stunned. I don’t know what I was thinking. In fact, I wasn’t thinking. That was the best part.

The water was cold and then my old brain chimed in and said: “You shouldn’t be doing this.” My new brain quickly replied: “Oh yes you should, and by the way, show your husband what you’re made of!” I forgot about the cold and jumped in. The first wave crashed over my head and water soaked my hair. I oddly didn’t care.

I jumped up on the board and rode my first wave in. “Dude, yeah!” I said just like Crush from Nemo. My husband is all smiles. We jump on the next wave and glide in again together. We run back out into the great Pacific to catch another wave. This time I wasn’t so lucky and barely missed the wave. The water gushed over my head and sea water engulfed my mouth. Salt! The saltiest water I’ve tasted in years. It tasted bad, but good. I spit in the ocean like I was 12-years old and wondered if I’d get in trouble. And then it was off to catch another wave.

When we were done, I laid in the sun to dry off. My hair curled up like a French poodle going through a car wash. Oh well. I tied it up in a ponytail and tried to give myself the messy beach look. I had the burned nose to match.

Surely one year ago I would have refused to go and been perfectly fine on a blanket on the sand watching others go out in the water. There are those who watch life and those that experience it. I’m glad for one moment I chose the experience.