The Purple Shark story

A family swim at the local swimming pool in Amersham, found my youngest daughter inconsolable at the top of the water slides. To go down the purple slide meant stepping through a huge painted shark's mouth, which she was convinced would crunch down and finish her off. After much discussion and an encouraging nudge, she took the plunge into the unknown, swept into the vortex of gushing white water. Ejected at considerable speed into the plunge pool at the bottom of the slide, she jumped out saying;

'That was great, can I do it again?'

This has become something of a family legend and when she - or any one of us - is faced with a fear about doing something, we visualise that same situation and ask

'Could this be a Purple Shark moment?'

How much do our fears prevent us from taking a chance and moving forward? There is something about a helpful conversation at just the right time, and sometimes it's worth taking a risk because the results may be better and more exciting than you thought possible.

So what’s your Purple Shark moment?