Life Lessons From a Shark Attack
I had no business being a quarter mile out from the beach in La Jolla cove.
After being chewed up and spit out over and over again by this salty washing machine, I've finally made it out past where the waves are breaking.
My lungs are on fire.
As I try to catch my breath floating on a surfboard thats barely bigger than my 16 year old body, an eerie chill comes over me.
Up to this point, every ounce of my attention has been focused on avoiding getting pounded by monster waves and swept back to shore.
Now all I can focus on is the stillness around me. How when I look below me into the ice cold water of the pacific it's no longer blue, but fades into blackness.
As I bob up and down like a fishing lure I can practically hear the Jaws theme song pounding in my brain.
I look around and find two other surfers nearby waiting for the next set. I paddle over a little closer.
I don't want to crowd them, but if the monster I can sense circling in the depths below me decides its lunch time, I at least want it to have options.
Here come the waves. Thank God.
I may have spent an hour getting out here, but now all I can think about is how these waves are my one way ticket back to dry land.
I turn my eyes back to the horizon and the two guys behind me and wait for the moment to start paddling.
As the wave gets closer and grows larger I can almost taste my salty salvation.
And just before the wave gets big enough to eclipse the horizon, obscuring my vision of everything behind me, I see a dorsal fin breach the water.
Holy shit. SHARK.
My mind is an explosion of color. Adrenaline starts pumping through my veins like hot motor oil through a supercar.
I am activated.
I start paddling like my life depends on it. Because it does.
As the wave closes in my forward progress grinds to a halt as the suction of the wave keeps me suspended in place.
The wave begins to crest beneath me, and I paddle harder. I'm giving it everything I have and just as I reach the point where the wave should take over and begin rocketing me forward…it rolls right out from under me and continues on.
I'VE MISSED IT!
I'm no longer suspended in place. Now I'm sliding down the backside of a mountain, picking up speed toward that dorsal fin, and toward my maker.
Why the hell was I even out here?
I’ve always had an irrational fear of sharks. How stupid could I be to deliver myself on a surfboard shaped platter straight into Great White territory?
As the momentum takes me closer to destiny I only have one option left. I’m going to have to fight. I steel myself. With a surge of energy I clench my fists and…
Who am I kidding.. I PANIC!
Pure instinct takes over. I paddle even harder only this time it isn’t really paddling, it’s more like flailing.
And then somehow, over the roar of the ocean, over the sound of my splashing, over my racing pulse pounding in my ears, I faintly hear one of the other surfers excitedly say to the other:
“Bro! Look! There’s a dolphin over there!”
A dolphin.
As the threat diminishes the adrenaline turns to lead. The lactic acid in my muscles feels like it solidifies And I now weigh a thousand pounds. After what I’ve just been through I’m practically catatonic.
The other two guys realize what I’ve just been through and boy do they think its hilarious.
I start laughing too. I don’t think its funny but at this point I’m pretty sure my brain is just short circuiting.
After I decompress a little, I’m now floating peacefully on my board.
In that instant I realized that by being fixated on what I feared most, I was blind to any other possibility.
Feeling pretty foolish but grateful to be alive, I paddle back to the beach to return my board and change my underwear.
As I reflect on this experience I had as a teenager, the lesson I learned that day is powerful. When we let our fears take over, we can no longer see possibilities, only what we fear most.
As we pursue our dreams the fear of failure can blind us from seeing opportunities that would lead to our success.
As we pursue a business our worries can begin to eclipse our strengths if we allow them to dig their hooks into us.
I’m not saying we can’t feel fear.
That’s impossible.
We’re going to feel fear. But we can’t let that fear consume us and prevent us from seeing reality.
After all, failure isn’t just okay, it’s inevitable. The formula isnt Fail or Succeed.
The Formula is Fail then Succeed.
When writing a story, a good question to continually ask yourself is:
“Is the reader seeing a movie in their heads as they read.”
If they aren’t chances are the writing is more informative and less narrative. Neither is right or wrong, but telling a story visually puts the reader there with us, and has a greater chance of having an emotional impact.
The “movie in their heads” tidbit is something I got from The Science of Storytelling by Will Storr. It’s a great single tool to tell if you’re on the right track.
I’m pumped to hit the ground running this year. We are finishing up our time in Puerto Rico for the holidays, and I have a lot of exciting things in the works.
I’m leveling up my mentorship program to equip you with the tools you need to take things to the next level. I hold nothing back. No secrets, just direct tailored access to everything I know about cinematography and filmmaking, social media, the tools and techniques I use, as well as helping you with the mindset you need in this competitive space.
I’m working on finishing my “Short-form Film Maker” course, which is an A-Z on my exact technical process to making high quality impactful videos to grow your audience around your passions.
Drop me a line with any questions you have about what I have going on or just to say hello. I’d love to hear from you.
I hope your year is off to a great start
Caleb
