Photo by martin bennie on Unsplash

Member-only story

You’ll Never Feel Ready — And That’s Okay

Stop lying to yourself about timing

Manj Bahra
Published in
3 min readJan 21, 2025

--

I never thought I’d be writing about this…

But jumping into 3°C (37°F) water at Loch Tay taught me something I need to share.

Now, this isn’t a “Hey, look at me” post. I chose to visit this lake — no credit or sympathy needed. My plan was getting in that water.

Yet, when the moment came, my friends and I froze (pun intended).

We’d spent two days hyping ourselves up, but when we stood at the edge, staring at the freezing water, all our confidence shrivelled.

The staff didn’t help when they casually mentioned, “It’s so cold even the animals aren’t getting in.”

So, we did what humans do best.

We faffed. We procrastinated. We waited to feel ready.

And you know what happened?

Nothing.

When we realised time was running out, we tried the next obvious thing: easing into it.

We took a few slow, hesitant steps into the water, feeling the brutal cold creep in. That lasted all of 3 seconds before we turned back, shivering.

That’s when something incredible happened.

--

--

Modern Love
Modern Love

Published in Modern Love

Sharing the best in the science and psychology of 21st-century dating

Manj Bahra
Manj Bahra

Written by Manj Bahra

Helping you break the cycle and find love. Neuroscience & psychology-based advice. 3 million reads and counting!

No responses yet