Years ago, when I lived in Hawaii, I went to the beach with my friend on New Year’s Day.

The winter surf was booming, so we ventured out to the North Shore of Oahu to tackle the waves at Hawaii’s famous Waimea Bay.

We were both strong swimmers. I participated in the Waikiki Rough Water Swim, and she was a “fish” who was completely comfortable in the water.

We stood on the beach with our boogie boards, wondering, “Should we go in… Shouldn’t we go in?”

If we went in, we could get turned inside out and upside down.

On the other hand, we could have an incredibly exhilarating experience.

Twenty minutes later, we were still standing on the beach, wondering, “Should we… Shouldn’t we… Should we… Shouldn’t we?”

We finally looked at each other simultaneously and said, “Let’s go in!”

I remember as if it were yesterday – working our way out past that surf line, hanging onto our boards, gazing out towards the horizon with a mixture of awe and what-have-we-done?

An impressive set rolled toward us. We looked at each other wide-eyed, filled with equal parts of excitement and anxiety, wondering whether to go for it. We knew once we committed, there was no turning back. You can’t tell an 8-foot wave, “Sorry, I changed my mind.”

We decided to go for it. We kicked as hard as we could to match the speed of the wave and caught it. The swell lifted us up and shot us forward.

I remember sliding down the face of that wave, cutting back and forth as we rode it all the way in until we scraped our bellies on the beach.

We looked at each other, grinning from ear to ear, nodded in agreement, and went back out for another shot of adrenaline.

It was one of the most intense experiences of my life. And I will always be glad we listened to the voice of confidence instead of the voice of fear.