I loved the advice I was given by my friend Marisa who helped me learn to swim. She said if I want to get better, to improve, to get more comfortable I needed to just get in the water—at least three times a week. Even if I just splashed around. I have taken that advice to heart. Perhaps a little too much. Every time I go to the pool I say I’m just there to splash around. If I actually swim good laps, well that is a bonus.
Another friend is headed off to a triathlon this weekend and she wrote to say she finally got back in the pool: “Why is it so hard for me to get wet when I love it?” It is probably because of busy schedules and competing priorities but for most all of us, there is a hesitancy to taking the plunge—whether that involves a body of water or a body of a different kind.
For some of us we like to test the waters…enter slowly…use the excuse of letting ourselves get used to the temperature or acclimate to the changing conditions. It might work on some days, but often it just delays and defuses the true need for us to get out, get in, get past. I am not advocating to act with reckless abandon, but I do believe that sometimes we just need to jump in, take the plunge, and splash around.