I just got a breakthrough!!
Two, actually. On the same night! Pinch me.
Okay, so, have you ever had a “runner’s high,” a stellar “flow”
in whatever you’re doing, a “don’t mess with me, I’m eating” kinda
concentration, or the quintessential feeling of “being on cloud 9” because you
just did _____”? Have you?! Then you know what I’m talkin’ ‘bout!
I was swimming the other night and made a breakthrough. It was glorious. Only one other time whilst swimming have I
had such an experience – that was when I got into a stellar flow. This time the deal was with breathing, no
less! It felt amazing! Like I didn’t want to get out of the pool and
have the moment end, amazing. Not that
my breathing was oh so terrible to begin with (i.e. I wasn’t drowning or
constantly spitting out water that found its way into my mouth, thank goodness),
but it feels good to have finally grasped a comfortable way to rotate and grab
a big enough breathe without messing up your stroke or rhythm. Phew! :)
It only took how long… but I don’t care because now I’ve got it!
I’ve been swimming off and on for a while now and forget how
I got started swimming, actually.
Oh! I take that back. I know why.
I wanted to be a lifeguard at a camp one summer, so I started swimming fairly
regularly to be able to pass the test. I
passed, and it was a spectacular summer (definitely for more reasons than just
being a lifeguard but, like so many things, that’s another story).
Ever since practicing for that test, I’ve enjoyed swimming a
lot. I mean, it’s a different and fun
way to exercise, so I decided to add it to my routine. Nothin’ crazy like Phelps. Pssh.
I’ve never been a legit swimmer.
I kinda just go for it and stick to freestyle or breaststroke.
Another reason to swim now is due to friends suggesting it when
I get injured and can’t run [as much]. The
most recent occurrence of some such injury was several weeks back when I rolled
my ankle. Boo. Anyway, I just re-vamped my schedule to
include one two swim sessions, if I so desire.
I like it. It feels so good to be
in the water, enjoying the cool temperature and slicing through the calm!
Like I said, I’m absolutely no expert, so I watched a few YouTube videos
and asked a couple of friends over the years to help me master some basic skills. This is actually how a friend
and I became better friends :) She had
been on a swim team, so we’d hit the pool about once a week to grasp techniques,
chat, and, of course, just swim. Ah, such
great times! We challenged each other
both in the pool to do more laps without taking a break, for instance, and in
our lives. She was a nurse for kids with
cancer and I was a dietitian-to-be seeing all sorts of patients in my
internship, so we talked about the medical field, discussed how to be a light
despite the darkness around us, shared about family issues, and more. She’s the smartie I just visited in
Connecticut since she’s attending Yale for a graduate nursing program.
I’ll never forget her for lots of reasons but the main
reason is because she said the most impactful words to help me through an especially
hard time, one that’s become a full force in my life just in the past year or
so. Her words spurred on more reading
which has helped to grow and stretch me, to say the very least.
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