For me summer is synonymous with outdoor swimming. Wading into the shallows I surface dive, and the underwater realm opens up. Even in a pool amid swimmers’ bubbles and legs of aqua aerobicizers swaying like a stirred up coral forest, it feels pleasantly altered from the above water world.
Yet in all my years of swimming, I never managed to dive. So last week - at my favorite summer swimming hole - I told my lap buddy I wanted to learn how. Her response, “At Your age?” And my retort, “I’m as young as I’ll ever be again.”
While I don’t fancy myself going off the high or even low diving board, I’d love to propel my body off the side into a nonchalant, I’ve been doing this forever, kind of entry. But it’s the propelling I realize that’s the hard part for me.
I started on the top rung of the ladder - arms raised overhead, chin tucked - and tumbled in but managed head first and no belly flop. That first step led to a second, and although I’m still a work in progress, I’ve broken through the initial trepidation.
Fear can tighten its grip on us particularly with the passing years. These days we have more than enough happening that can invoke a sense of powerlessness. Confronting a mental block or desire that’s become buried with time can prove a surprising antidote and renew our vigor.
I’m Paula Garrett and that’s my perspective.
