Fear of what we don't understand

"I had been afraid of the awful presence of the river, which was the soul of the river, but through her [Ultima] I learned that my spirit shared in the spirit of all things" (p.15).

I feel like we are afraid of what we don't understand. Especially things that are powerful, especially water, as exemplified above. We fear water for quite a few reasons.

For instance: we don't know what is in the water.










 We also don't know where the water will take us.

 
We know that water is extremely powerful and we don't want to be caught in it's way at the wrong time.





















This fear can be really good when it can protect us from dangerous situations, but it can also rob us of opportunities to harness an incredible power.
 

I feel like water is not the only power that we do not understand, equally so it is not the only power we fear. What are some other forces that we fear? I believe that people fear the wind, the sun, LOVE, the power to create life. What other powers can you think of?
It is important to respect these powers but I feel that fear of them can be detrimental. I think that Ultima is trying to teach us this. She wants us to realize that we too are powerful and that we should not fear the water, neither should we fear ourselves. We must learn control, or learn to harness this power correctly.

I feel like a huge part of harnessing this power is to live in the moment, to operate in the present.




Gerry Lopez, a famous surfer said "Well, I think one of the big lessons you learn about surfing is how to operate in the present, that's really what the foundation of the entire surfing experience is."

This concept is also the foundation of being a panda, and doing kung fu.
If we do not learn to operate in the present what will happen to us on the waves of life? Will we harness their power?

Or will we be let ourselves be swept under and into the razors of the reef and devoured by the sharks of life?