(Editor’s note: The original version of this post was published in error. I am extremely sorry if you read that incoherent rough draft or received this post in duplicate. You can read my explanation in “My Apologies for Errant Blog Post.”)

I established myself as a bit of risk taker early in life. At age three, I stood in my new swim teacher’s back yard gazing at his pool. I could barely control my excitement about my first swimming lesson.

As soon as we completed introductions, I pointed at the diving board and declared, “I want to jump off that.” Continue reading →