Sunday, March 28, 2010

and i had pizza and wine to celebrate

"Do one thing everyday that scares you." Didn't Emerson say something along these lines?

Well good ol' Ralph woulda been mighty proud of me yesterday. I conquered my fears and did something I long swore I hated and was awful at and didn't enjoy even one little bit: I went swimming.

And I loved it.

As I entered the pool, my heart was racing and my chest was tight. "I can't swim! Look at all these people! They're going to laugh because I'm so ridiculously horrible. WHY AM I HERE?!?"

I'd told myself ahead of time that jogging through the pool would also be good exercise. Except the entire shallow section seemed to be reserved for screaming children and their caretakers.


So I went for it. I swam. It was nothing graceful or picturesque, but I got myself from one end to the other and back again. Then I took a break, and I did it again. And again. And again.

After a good 90 minutes, I felt like I could've stayed in that pool for another hour. But my eyes were cloudy with chlorine and it was getting close to dinner time. Through the windows in the ceiling, I could also see big patches of blue sky, where earlier the day had been grey and dull. I wanted to get outside and enjoy the weather before it was too late. But I will be going back. You can bet money on that. In fact, I can hardly wait.