I'm a 61-year-old man who's terrified of the ocean

And no, it's not because of sharks

Rough waters
(Image credit: iStock)

I was standing on the beach in East Hampton, trying to summon the courage to plunge into the waves breaking a few feet away. I was on the verge of the action, watching everyone dive and bob and shudder with delight as the surf curled over them. How I wanted to join them, especially as the air temperature was past 90.

A man emerging from the water with an ample stomach and deep red face saw me huddled at the water's edge as he stomped onto the beach like a conqueror, shaking the ocean out of his platinum hair. I had seen him torpedo into the waves a few minutes earlier. "It's just that split second jolt at first, and then you're in — go for it," he encouraged me.

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Allan Ripp

Allan Ripp is a former journalist who now runs a press relations firm in New York. He has contributed essays and personal commentary to The Wall Street Journal, The New York Times, The Atlantic, Forbes, Time, AdWeek, the New York Observer, and the Tribune News Service.