I learned how to swim almost 3 years ago. Now I am 30. Quite late in life, I know. But I have to admit that it took a lot of courage to try this. As I was taking swimming classes I could see small children swimming like dolphins in the sea while I was floating like a piece of sad wood trapped in foam protection. A slight feeling of embarassment sometimes got a hold of me until I have seen people over 60 coming to learn too. Watching other's people misery makes you feel better about yours? Maybe a bit of that too. But I think I started to slowly learn that it is the courage to learn something new the thing I should be the most proud of rather than the fact that I'm learning it 20 years later than others.
In my last hour of training I had a moment of fatigue and lost my focus and almost drowned. That moment scared me a lot. So much that even now, if I go in a pool deeper than 2 m, where I can't touch the bottom with my feet, I take the foam swimming aid thing with me. Embarassing detail nr. 2,I know. I am 30 yes I know. Get over the detail and continue reading, it is the smart adult Mary writing this. But this thing made me wonder:how come I can be so brave and fierce when it comes to some things and then scared like a baby when it comes to others?
I dream about a future time when I will jump like an olympic athlete and swim butterfly style like a mermaid while the whole league of divine angels applaud me and good looking Michael Phelps awaits me with a medal 🏅😂 I know it will take me a lot until I get there, but there is something about me being in the water which helped me greatly.
Up until Covid madness started I followed my swimming routine religiously. 2 times per week, 2 hours every session.The sauna before the swim was my favourite part... Gosh I love warmth sometimes, bring me Sahara Desert and I will purr like a kitty 🏜️😂If it could snow too, because I love winter, it would be even better. Yeah, utopia I know, but let me dream ok? 😂
I developed endurance and felt so good swimming. I was worried of how adults will look at this gorgeous lady coming to swim with her foam friend, but as time passed by, I no longer cared.
When I swim I am completely relaxed. I almost imagine that part of my body floats in space. The first 15 minutes of warm up are the hardest. After that, I feel like a pretty fish.Swimming helped me a lot in dealing with stress. I burned out my negative energy and focused on swimming and on pausing my thinking machinery. I think so much and it is exhausting sometimes. There is no sport in the world which could make me feel like swimming does. I drown my fears away, my worries float around me and my stress submerges. I feel like I float in a massive bowl of blue jelly and I feel wonderful.
Sticking to a routine helped me too. I am a creature of habit, loyal to extreme to a certain way of doing things, of respecting schedules, of commiting, of dealing with people. And once I find a thing I like, I am so loyal that I am not interested in anything else because I am happy. And for me, being happy means sticking to what you like and commit to new things only for pleasing yourself, not others. So I am a bit stubborn I admit, but this is just because I feel calm when I can have a schedule and stick to it. I thrive in spontaneity too, but only when I feel like it. Ahh.. The difficult Aquarius woman. Swimming in her mind all the time.
The power of swimming is what made me sail through rough times. If we would take this as a metaphor for life, I think we should all stop being afraid and learn how to swim better every day.
Have a productive day and toodle loo!
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I'm 35 and I guess I don't really know how to swim or I'm not very good at it. But I agree there is power in swimming.
You have given me a confidence boost about swimming
Awesome! Start swimming then, it is very good for stress🏊😊
5 years ago some friends and i were regular 3 times a week on the swimming pool. then we discovered that we could sneak to sauna and our serious swimming days were over :D
after that i had another round of maybe 6 months of 4-5 times a week, 50-60 minutes swimming.
Not sure do you know about this wonderful technology called underwater headphones :D last time i ordered it from aliexpres it was less than 30$
Also about learning to swim. as someone who swims from age 3-4 and seen some people learning, it is all about fear. if you are afraid you will have hard time learning. one of my friends learned in 5 times on the pool, and one of those times he was drowning while i was holding him and standing on the bottom of the pool because that was only solution to help him. and after that, he just went back in the deep part. other friend knows basics of swimming, can swim, but i am sure he would drown at any place where he can't touch the bottom. it is just fear of water.
Awwww fear🙈🙈 this must be the problem I agree with you. Underwater headphones? Damn that's so cool😍😍I have no problem if I can feel with my feet the bottom. I panick when I can't. Mind. It is all about the mind. Thank you for reading me, I appreciate it😊
i think the main thing is that you understand that you can float after that it is all fine :D
something like this, not sure is that exactly that model, but it looks like it https://www.aliexpress.com/item/32996742919.html?spm=a2g0o.productlist.0.0.7845443fMbCuV0&algo_pvid=b9232e00-1242-43b7-9f15-5cf317135db6&algo_expid=b9232e00-1242-43b7-9f15-5cf317135db6-2&btsid=0ab6d69f15924895950688240e3d84&ws_ab_test=searchweb0_0,searchweb201602_,searchweb201603_ used it for 6 months almost every day and worked fine.
Oo that looks cool. First time when I heard about this lol. Must feel so cool to listen to music while swimming. Here they play their own songs inside the swimming facility. But it is nice to have these, I would put podcasts to listen to. Thanks😊
Swimming is awesome.
I swim every day now.
At least a few laps.
Aaaaaa I want that, now they are closed due to covid and I feel like a fish on the sand twisting in agony lol. Daily swim, that is so good. And for the body. Rocking body and a super state of mind you have after swimming. Good for you, daily... Congrats!
We put in a pool 10 years ago. It’s a lot of work to keep clean and warm (with solar blankets) but it’s worth it if you like to swim every day.
Oh yes my dream, to have my own pool. Very good to have one. Daily swimming must feel so good😍😍
And a sauna for when the air is cool in Spring and fall
Yesss😍😍😍😍
And a Golden Retriever
Yeees nr 2 😍😂😂. I also love Chow Chow breed and German Shepherds. Fluffy balls of fur. Border Collies are super smart and I like those too.
LOL adulting sucks im 30 too and I'll openly admit it, but its never too late to roll back the years and embrace things we avoided for some or other reason, I love swimming and surfing I wish i did it more too!
Enjoy the swim, also a great full body workout
If you need the heat, Africa for sure, you'll be warm, kitty will be purring but also be toasty brown
Hahhahhaha. Noo, I like my white pale chalk skin. I never looked good with tan. I get red like a crab and it doesn't stick to me. Surfing....hm...too dangerous for me😂
It's not too late for anything, my friend. I'm the same age as you. and I wasn't swimming like fish when I was a kid. like a sad piece of wood! If it was true, I was too. :) after all, it is good to swim and you are a brave person. ♥️
Thank you😊I am proud of myself, I had to overcome fear. I still use a foam aid but well, I take baby steps😊At least I swim.
Like a piece of sad wood, that made me laugh :O)
Swimming is awesome, I love it. One day you will jump in like an olympian right into the massively deep end!
Hahhaha. I still feel like that. Now it is temporarely closed due to Covid stuff. I feel so good in the water. And I saw some of my fancy cellulitis dissapearing slowly after swimming session and my body looking better. That was a huge motivator hahahha. No me gusta el orange 🍊on my skin😂😂 Yeah pretty women have it too. Tadaaam🍊🍊😅
Wonderful write up. Yoi look younger than your age. When I go to swim too, i still have that fear of going to the parts where my feets can't reach..
Thanks. I have been told I do not look my age by many people. That's kinda cool😎😊
You are welcome
wow, you look wonderful and proud of your newly learnt skill.
I am 26 and I don't know how to swim. Well, when I was kid, an astrologer told my parents that I face danger from water, would die drowning...so they have kept me away from water. People are really believe in things like that in India.
I have tried swimming a couple of times on my vacation in resorts and enjoyed it quite a lot.
But the biggest breakthrough came when I jumped in the sea wearing lifejacket.
There were only a couple of people around me in the boat and only one of them knew how to swim.
We were miles aways from land or any human. And the moment I jumped, it scared the hell out of me.
After that incident, I kind of developed a phobia of going in deep water. The only time I have tried swimming was a couple of years ago, when we were going on rafting. Everyone was wearing life jackets, so I knew we would not drown.
There were a lot of people around.
When I read your post, I thought well, maybe I would learn how to swim by the time I am 30.
Hope so.
You could try! It is not very hard. And it is so good for stress.
By the way, remember I told you about a book which will be a very good read for you? I made the review, check it out here
https://hive.blog/ocd/@creativemary/the-dance-of-connection-book-review
Ahh, thanks a lot, I will enjoy reading it like your last post.
Welcome, I think you will like it!
I've never swimmed all my life. It's can be challenging but I think it's way interesting. Wow who would have thought you're 30. I'm actually 26 and sometimes I don't feel like an adult. Meanwhile you look stunning
Thank you, I do not look my age I know. I don't feel adult either sometimes. I keep the child inside alive. Always
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There's certainly no age bar in life to learn something new. Great job doing something new.
Hahaha you are very inspiring Mary, it is never too late when happiness is good. I learned to swim when an uncle threw me into the sea and turned his back on me, grimacing;) Although I was very upset with him, I suspected that he just wanted me to be bold and learn to swim to get permission to ride his boat. You look too young to be 30 years old. Cheers
Hahaha tough love. I would not have liked that to happen to me.
Thank you for the compliments hihi😊
I think I should learn to swim, I will not be 30 anytime soon, but I could use a break from all the overthinking and the heavyweight of stress on my shoulders sometimes.
I don't see any future Olympic champion coming from my learning 😂, but I would love to just take a deep dive and then float on my back and just enjoy that floating state.
Sahara with winters would be heaven on earth btw.
Oh yeah I am still scared to sit on my back and float like a duck lol. I would love it. I think I love the most the sense of floating. Of no weight. Almost like I can feel myself more when I am weightless. Interesting
Well Phelps might not have any competitor in me anytime soon, but I like the water anyway.
I know a saharian winter is out of this world, glad to see you think the same hihi.
I will never forget learning how to swim. I thought I was going to die! We were at a pool and I wouldn't get into the deep end and my grandpa started to ask me what the problem was. I told him that I couldn't swim, so he picked me up and threw me in! I sunk a bunch of times, but eventually got the hang of it.
I'm not necessarily advocating for it, but it was definitely a life lesson! Better at 30 than never, I would say.
Oh my, so many kids learned the hard way lol. I would have panicked brrrrr😂Well yes, it matters that I know. It's good to face your fears, it boosts the morale
Oh, trust me.... I panicked. haha!
😂
Better late than never :)
I'm not an athletic guy, but swimming is the one full-body workout (and meditation) that I really appreciate...
I hesitate using our pool, lately, (with Covid-scare) but I miss it and enjoy swimming in ocean, too, which is a 5 minute drive from our home.
Oh you have the whole ocean... Niiice. It is closed here too for swimming, I really miss it
It's never too late to learn to swim. And like other skills, once you know how, afterwards you wonder how you didn't do that earlier.
I love warmth too. And sauna. And summer. But also winter and tons of snow. Hard to experience that all in one day. :D At least in Finland as we don't have huge, snowy mountains.
Tons of snow❤️😍😍I remember my childhood years when winters were so harsh and one time is snowed so much it was up to my knees. So so cool. I love sauna, I feel so relaxed there, like I am a princess of Saudi Arabia lol😂😂 and after sauna a good swim=best
I can totally relate to you. I'm turning 26 this year and can swim too well, but only in the 4 ft pools 😂. Once I feel I'm out of breath I need to feel the ground under my feet. Its because I had taken swimming classes but there were so many kids that the coach couldn't concentrate on everyone well.
Maybe... I'll take classes again someday... but that someday seems far ahead in future. 😂
Until then 4ft should do! :P
Oo I feel you, same here. But as long as I am swimming I am the prettiest fishy in the water. No one can take it away from me🏊💦😂🐠
Don't see what would be embarassing at using a floaty while swimming. Better safe then sorry I've always learned. I do like how you overcome fears! Just step into the big unknown and wait and see what will happen 😎
While being a competition swimmer myself my whole life I know how hard it can be for some people to start swimming because they never learned swimming during their childhood. Think learning to swim was even more brave than stepping out of that plane! 🤙 Hopefully you can swim again and dive back in your routine in the pool?
Hey! I embrace my floaty now hahaha. Competition swimmer... Very nice! I would love to swim butterfly style. The pools are still closed, but as soon as they open I will be the first one to go