Get In The Deep End!

I learnt to swim some years back and the instructor did a great job of teaching me, actually us. My husband and i (then fiance) with my sister all learnt together. He was a task master and he would make us go to the deep end with no warning. The pool was fairly large and the first time he made me do it, it felt like a feat i could not achieve. He went with me, and i did it! It was amazing.

Coach I was like a slave driver and if you managed to drink water, he would call you 'Shakira' (something about shacking water..lol. Left to me, I would know all the styles he could teach, back strokes, breast strokes, free style etc. I stayed with breast strokes, that was the one he first taught me. I tried back strokes too and i was ok with it but i just liked breast strokes better.

A few years later, i had not gone swimming in a while, there were so many reasons not to. There was no good pool around, I would have to travel a far distance from my house in Surulere when i lived in Lagos etc. Swimming took a back seat and I only got to fool around in the water whenever I got the opportunity to.

A few years later (NOW), I live in a city where traffic is not a problem, I have the membership of a hotel gym and I can use the pool anytime i want. I'm a registered member, I don't need to pay a dime extra. I go a bit more frequently now.

EVerytime i'm at the pool, i stay in the shallow end and just keep swimming the breath back and forth. I would tell myself sometimes it's the same skill i use for the breadth that i need for the length but would still not venture out.

The last time at the pool, hubby suggested starting from the deep end so if i got stuck, i could stop just before the shallow end. I didn't think i wasn't going because i though i couldn't make it to the end. I can swim well, it's just a four letter word FEAR. I've had episodes in the past when by myself I would stop in the middle of the water and shout 'I'm drowning'. I wasn't really drowning, I just decided in my mind I couldn't move on.

So today, I decided why not take the Mr's advice and start from the deep end. I stayed there for a while hanging on the wall for support, i tried to acclimatise, i even went down and let my feet touch the ground so i could spring up. I lost control a bit at that point and then i did what my instructor taught me, i sprang up and voila, my head came up. I waited a few minutes and then I decided to glide forward. I pushed myself forward and instructed myself to swim. One stroke after the other, with my legs kicking, i made it to the shallow end with no incident. I made sure i stayed close to the wall though(chicken me).

Then when i swam back to the deep end, i asked hubby why i never ventured out by myself, he said FEAR. He explained how i had put a limitation on myself, told myself i could not do it and no matter what anyone said, until i told myself i could, nobody could. I went back and forth and made sure i did seven laps. I did it! I could with no help from anyone.

Thinking about it, God taught me a lesson. He has told me I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me. His word is true but when i say the word can't, my brain shuts down, i see no way around it and no matter what, I just can't.

It's like that with every area of our lives. I dared myself, I pushed myself forward, although my hubby thought i could, his words could not have done it for me if i didn't dare to try.

In what area have you said to yourself I can't, although you know deep down that if only you try, you can? Like my husband said to me, I dare you to take off the limitation on your mind and swim to the deep end.

You can!