Overwhelmedness

It's easy to get overwhelmed when beginning a new pursuit - a language, an art, an instrument - the martial arts. There's this moment when you realize just how much you've taken on. I've seen people get overwhelmed by this but I've also seen people who are just fascinated by it - it doesn't seem to intimidate them, it just leaves them awestruck.

I imagine that it's the same 2 separate reactions that a couple of strangers standing on a beach looking out at the ocean, who have just realized that the strange illusion they've been looking at and trying to understand is, in fact, a tidal wave.