About a decade ago, I lived for a short while on an island in Penang, Malaysia.

Back then, I stayed in a three-story house for a homestay, and my room was on the second floor, surrounded by glass walls.

From there, I could see the ocean stretching out just beyond the one-lane road in front of our house.

Crossing that narrow road meant stepping directly onto the beach.

One day, there was news of a massive tsunami in Indonesia, just below us on the map.

They said the waves might even reach the island where I was staying.

The wind was so strong that no deliveries could get through.

When I went out for food, the gusts were so powerful they nudged small SUVs sideways.

Luckily, the tsunami never arrived.

But ever since that day—even now, more than a decade later—I’ve been afraid of using an umbrella whenever a fierce storm blows in.

But now, I’m okay.

When the wind threatened to rip the umbrella from my hands, I simply let it go.

And in that moment, the fear that felt like it could kill me vanished as if it had never existed.

Sometimes, I think that to survive, you need to let go of what you’re unconsciously clinging to—so you can make space for something new.