Fear is probably THE great impediment in life at every level of it, Amos. However, there is also preference. I don't "fear" the game of football, for example. I just don't prefer it to, for example, basketball or table tennis or soccer. My preference is for those, not for football. This might be because my physical type (small and lightly built) was never very well suited to playing football...or it might be something else, but I think it's perfectly reasonable that a person have preferences and have the right to be interested in one thing more than in another. Same goes for Paris Hilton. :) It's not that I fear her....I'm just not interested! I don't think we'd find much to talk about. And so on...

Now, as regards deep and cold water...again, Nature did not equip me with a physical body type that is well suited to those. I get cold too easily, and I don't have much buoyancy. I am going to die of exposure a lot faster in cold water than a person who has more meat on their bones. Accordingly, I seek out warmer environments. This is just sheer practicality and common sense on my part. An animal does the same thing...it seeks out an environment that suits its physical needs and limitations.

I have a buddy who loves the cold. He's like a polar bear. He suffers terribly in hot summer conditions, which I find ideal. Accordingly, he loves winter sports, and I avoid them. I love hot places, and he avoids them. It's not fear, it's mostly knowing what conditions suit you best, that's all.

(Though I will admit that I fear deep water, yes, and I know why. It has to do with some past traumatic incidents.)