Excerpted from a letter.

Work hard, live harder, and do something more challenging than imaginable.

Life’s a journey: I’d like to explore new trails.

I had no blood of adventure by nature. I saw too much weakness inside, stayed in my little comfort zone, and doubted about everything risky. But the fate threw me out violently – not knowing the answers to life, and nobody could help me at that moment – when I was 17.

I was pushed onto the track without any preparation: there is no other choice but go ahead and overcome anyway.

Little Nemo in the Red Sea
Little Nemo, are you ready for your journey?

Go to the sea: overcome Aquaphobia

When I was about 5, my parents brought me to visit the sea for the first time. My parents and their friends were young and impulsive at that age, so they attempted to swim towards blue water, and they carried me in a life jacket.

As I saw the moored buoy was drawing near me – which was much larger than my head – I collapsed. I could not contain panics even in the swimming pool after that experience, especially when I could not feel the ground.

Then it was 2010, I joined the department retreat of snorkeling in the Red Sea. Without a doubt, I could not swim. I held the stern-rail quietly, looking at the corals tinted with emerald green – hesitating. But I was young and impulsive at that age, so I just jumped into the sea.

After a short moment of struggling, I was surprised to find that I could somehow float near the surface (probably due to the Red Sea is too salty). It was amazing to be in the sea and enjoyed it for the first time – I found a whole new world.

After that, I fear of water no more. Now I can still not swim elegantly, but I can somehow float near the surface – even in the pool.

Go to the park: overcome Roller coaster phobia

At the age of 30, I visited Europa-Park for the first time. It’s not because I did not like fun when I was younger: I had a fear of coasters. But the only purpose of this trip was challenging myself.

When I was about 8, my brother took me to a small park near my home. After some boring sightseeing, he decided to try a coaster for the first time – along with me. The cabin could only carry two people in a row, so he let me sit on the front seat and thus he could keep me in sight. I had no idea what was going to happen, but I still remember that sight around a U-turn now.

My thoughts were interrupted by the staff: he helped me to perform the final safety check. I took a deep breath and held the handrail firmly. Suddenly, the coaster dashed into the sky on a short beep. I probably made some screaming at turning points, but to my surprise, overall the thrilling experience was quite enjoyable.

After returned to the ground, I realized that my fear was merely an illusion due to limited cognition. It can take some time to grow stronger, so allow the mental power to develop.

My fervor completely ignited: I took almost every roaster before the park closed. I took the “Silver Star” at last: intense tension was built slowly and attained supreme at the top, yet I thrilled at that sharp release during an instant straight pitch.

Since then, I am fond of going to high places.

Go to the mountain: overcome Acrophobia

Preikestolen (left), Kjeragbolten (top-right), Trolltunga (bottom-right).

Three rocks in Norway - aka (to me) Norway Rocks!
Three rocks in Norway, aka (to me) Norway Rocks!

Sit down and behold the abyss

4 PM: We arrived at the car park of Kjeragbolten. It’s overcast and windy. I am starting to worry about weather change – there’s snow everywhere on the road, and it’s getting dark – so I keep encouraging my buddies to hurry up.

The muddy trail towards the rock stretches out on the snow. But luckily, no ice on the rock, and no other people on site. My buddies are looking at each other, so I ask them to take photos.

The rock is much larger than I thought. I jump onto it, make sure my buddies are taking shots, then start to pose. But their photos are not fancy-looking, so I jump onto the rock again, and again.

Now I had enough fun, then take a short break before return. I sit down on the cliff, hang my feet freely in the air, and behold the deep abyss.

What am I looking? I am looking at myself; I am looking deep into my mind – much deeper than the 1000m abyss, not a slight amount of fear is in sight.

The Trial of the Troll

Trolltunga means “Troll’s tongue” – the route to that tongue is not for the weak.

The camping site came alive early in the morning. I joined the Nordic walk flock and started 3 hours rushing.

The first rise was slippery stone steps: steep uphill, nearly deserted and full of mud. Then the second rise was covered with moss and snow, among patches of icy ponds. The trip was lovely at this stage: waterfalls running down snow-bergs in the background, then dropping into calm lakes.

However, it’s getting hard on the third rise: the main track was full of thick mud, which can easily swallow people’s shoes, while side trails were on icy moss and snow. The last 3km was a nightmare: roads are not very distinguishable on the marsh, while many slopes are completely under ice. The weather also became worse, as icy rain kept dropping on my head.

Then suddenly, a thick fog arose. I felt a bit lost in the silent hill – only 10m’s visibility around me. However, I expelled thoughts away from my mind, kept my head down to watch out for pitfalls, and followed the steps of precursors.

When I finally arrived at the viewing platform, the fog quickly vanished. I sat down on the tip of that tongue, enjoying the pleasant sunshine after the rain stopped.

Dive into the sea: overcome Thalassophobia

I revisited the Red Sea 6-years later, but this time on the other side.

When my diving coach asked if I have the problem of Thalassophobia, this photo immediately popped into my mind:

Deep sea photo (Warning: make sure you do not have Thalassophobia before click!). Image from this horrible source.

Somehow I had a strange fear of enormously large things in the deep sea, since like forever. But I told him firmly with a smile: “No.”

Look up from -30m

I was a little upset to know that Deep Diver was the first advanced course on my schedule. Nevertheless, I bit the valve and followed my couch quickly down to -30m along a steep seabed.

We stopped at a flat area. I got a little nervous – darkness surrounded us in the daytime. So I forced myself not to look at anywhere else than my coach’s instruction board. He indicated me to notice that the color of light from above is dark blue, then I held my breath and turned my face upwards.

That was like a glimpse of the miracle. The sea surface is so bright and feels so close to me, just like heaven above our head. I stretched out my arm to touch the light, which seems just at the tip of my finger, expelling the darkness surrounding me. Since then, I started to believe that light can guide me through the shadow of fear.

But what if there is no light above my head?

Be into the dark

Most of the sea-creatures live in totally dark – lonely and quietly – and probably won’t draw anyone’s attention forever. So Night Diver is an excellent opportunity to visit them.

A lonely starfish in the dark.
A lonely starfish in the dark.

Before we jumped into the water, my coach assigned me a very odd instruction: I must turn off my torch on his signal. What could that possibly mean?

In the first few minutes, I was adapting to the darkness. There were urchins and lionfishes everywhere – they sleep at home during the day. After had some fun chasing a big sea turtle, my coach stopped me. He waved me to turn off my torch – he did that too – then we suddenly fell into utter darkness.

Baffled and tried to detect anything unusual, I suddenly saw streamlines shining with blue sparkles approaching me! When I also felt a rush of torrent towards my face, I quickly dodged aside and waved my arms like crazy.

At that very moment, I saw a miracle again – blue sparkles start to appear wherever my arms strike – just like that magic “lit up sea” in Life of Pi:

“Feel like another night dive?” My coach asked me after we returned to the boat.

“Yes, for sure,” I said. “But next time I would like to wear a jellyfish-proof mask.”

Know when to take the brake

All my friends know I drive fast, but they are still willing to travel with me.

Each car has own limit, so I never try to overstretch them. Last time I felt the car was starting to lose stability, I released the gas pedal a little bit without any hesitation, watching the speed gently dropped below 240km/h.

I never stare at the speed meter while driving, since speed is never the center of my concern. I look at the road into the distance, I watch out for possible nearby danger, and I keep an eye on every indicator on the panel.

I know the focus should always place on my destination. Using the brake certainly reduces my speed; but without taking any break, I might never arrive at my target. Besides, I do not want to miss too much of the scenery during my journey.