I love swimming. When I am swimming I feel like nobody else is around. I feel peaceful and it takes me back to my mermaid days. I use to love to pretend that I was a mermaid. I actually thought that I was one until my brothers told me they weren't real. Let me clarify, I love swimming in the pool. I don't like swimming in the ocean, I don't like sharks.
Today I went to the gym to swim for my workout. I was so excited because I just knew that if I went at 12:00 the schedule said that 8 lanes would be open, this had to mean that I would get my own lap lane. 8 lanes at lunch, there should be plenty of lanes open. I was wrong. I nearly ran up the stairs to get to the pool, I was so excited about swimming, its been awhile. I jumped into a lane and right when I was getting ready to take off I heard, "May I share a lane with you?" I wanted to yell "NO you can't share a lane with me, I've been thinking about swimming in my own lane all morning." Of course I didn't, I said sure that would be great. "That would be great?" Really? I had to add in that not only could she share a lane with me but it sounded like I won the lottery or something.
Anyways, we discussed who would swim on what side and off we went. Well off she went. I patiently waited for her to get to the other side so we wouldn't be swimming next to each other. After seeing her swim for 2 seconds I realized it wouldn't be a problem us swimming next to each other. She was really fast!! So not only am I sharing a lane, but I am sharing a lane with a swimmer who might stop me in the middle of a lap and ask if I am swimming or drowning.
It worked out fine. I focused my whole attention while swimming on her, making sure that I didn't go over to her side. I was so worried that I was going to make a wrong movement and I would give her a black eye. So instead of being able to focus on myself and my own peace I had to focus on her and what she was doing so that we could both share the lane.
If only we did that more in life. Focus on other people and how their doing so that we can share a lane with them. We need to challenge ourselves to focus on others and how we can help them get from one end of the pool to the next. Maybe it is something small like a kind word or a meal. We need to start swimming in the same lane with others.
I had about 10 minutes left of my swimming and I saw a lane come open. So of course the first thing that I did was jump out of the pool and grab that lane before anyone else could. Leaving my Olympic swimmer by herself. I wonder how many times I've done that in the past in life? Leaving someone in a lane by themselves while I jump to another lane because it works out best for me or my life.
I'm sure it didn't bother the Olympic swimmer one bit and it gave me such a wonderful peaceful end to my workout, being in a lane by myself. That is swimming though, not life. In life we need people in our lanes at times and we need to jump in other people's lanes when needed.
All I'm saying is I want to be more aware of people around me and ask myself if they need someone to jump in their lane with them.
Ice cream eaten: NONE
Ice cream thought about: NONE until now!
Ginnie, great post as usual.
ReplyDeleteFunny, I've been thinking the same way lately. I definitely need someone in my lane! It's hard trying to become what you know you can be without the help of others. At church, the message since New Year's has been about resolutions. The goal is to choose one word to be your resolution instead of trying to change behaviors. This word is the lense which you view everything you do and everyone you encounter through. Our pastor said something that resonated with me. If we try to change our passions (food), our heart's desires then we are truly trying to perform behavior modification and eradicate our sins of the past. But, if we choose one specific word and become passionate about that, then how we view and react to everything around us will change.
I didn't make any resolutions this year. I have in the past and like millions of others, they are broken by Valentine's Day but I thought I can pick a word that describes the person I want to be more like. After going through the usual list of words like forgiving, patient, kind, etc I asked myself what is truly at the heart of who I want to be for myself and for my family. I think I've landed on a word: Understanding. At least, I'm giving it a try. Our series at church continues for a few weeks so I've got some time to change.
This one will be tough for me but I love a challenge. Instead of reacting to the unkind words of others, food temptations, an emergency situation, etc. I will ask myself where is this person/situation/temptation/want coming from? I've already had to do it several times today :) Being on facebook for just a few minutes a day is enough to drive someone insane. There are so many self-righteous people (so I used to believe) that would post anything to get a rise out of someone. I have admittedly reacted to many of these posts in the past. Then there is the do as I say, not as I do type of posts, etc (well you get the picture). Today, I had to ask myself where they were coming from and realized it's not about me or anyone else but themselves. That alone caused me to have empathy for them and pray that whatever is hurting them in their lives get better.
Anyway, thanks for listening and sharing! You are doing great and I do see a difference in your outlook. It is infectious and helpful to me in my journey. Please jump in my lane anytime. I can assure you that I don't swim straight :)
Wow! You got a lot out of that swim! I'll share a lane with you anytime. ;)
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