Throughout my life, I always wanted to “swim out to the log” or “swim to the dock” but I held back because of my anxiety and fear of drowning.
I admired the brave swimmers on “the other side” sunbathing and laughing on the floating dock from afar and wished I could be out there.
This summer, I practiced swimming several times (25+ swims in BC lakes and ocean). I’m a competent swimmer in shallow waters, when I know I can touch bottom or I’m close to shore.
But I knew that if I tried harder, I could push myself to swim further and deeper.
Last week, I took my son and his cousins to the lake. For the first time ever, I swam out from the dock to this log — three times!
I don’t know how deep the lake is, but it was dark, murky, mysterious — way out of my comfort zone…and I couldn’t see bottom with my goggles.
I was scared, but I did it!
The young boys had no problem swimming out to that log, but we were all out of breath when we reached it, with chilly lake-kissed skin and proud smiles.
This isn’t a big achievement for competent swimmers, but for me — it’s a huge milestone and I’m braver and stronger for trying.
