What If . . .
A few months ago, I made the decision to push myself in areas I don't usually push.
Not so much mentally, but physically.
You see, I haven't been a super athletic person these first 40 years of my life.
Oh sure--I played soccer and softball as a kid. Ran track in High School. (Which, my mom swears I loved; my memory is slightly different than hers. I remember the kids calling me "cabbage patch knees" on the bus trip to regionals. Anyhow.)
Then of course, there were the months leading up to my wedding when I worked out hap-hazardly.
And the years leading up to my 30th bday--when I was so worried about being "old," I did the Bill Phillips' "Body for Life Challenge." (Which, I LOVE to this day.)
But overall, my life has been a life of NOT really pushing myself physically.
I think it's kind of interesting. What makes one person push themselves in an area, but another person NOT push in that area? Why are we so different? (Or are we not different at all?)
Anyway, I'm tellin' you, I've been a bit of a chicken when it comes to pushing myself physically.
Afraid to push.
Afraid to sweat.
Not liking the feeling of being sub-par at yoga classes, Jazzercize, etc.
But that has kind of changed for me in the last two months. (I think life, turning 40, and Janae's influence in my life caused the change.)
So I made the decision to DROP ALL OF MY EXCUSES and push myself physically.
And I cannot begin to tell you how this one decision has changed me/my life!
8)
I've done things in the last 8 weeks that I never thought I'd do. Well, really, things I KNEW I'd never do.
For example . . .
Normally I don't swim much. When I take the kids to the pool I will watch them and then get in the pool when I want to cool off. But overall, I don't swim.
Why?
Well, I had a good excuse: I didn't like water in my ears and nose. So I would plug my nose. And that made it hard to swim. One-handed swimming is just wrong, yanno?
Anyway, my point!
One day I went to the pool and said, "What if you don't hold your nose? What if you let water get in your ear?" What if you dive in and just let it all go?
What if you just forget the Cabbage Patch Knees Comments from 1988 and jump in the dam* pool!
What if?
(You know where this is heading, right?)
I dove in the pool (which is against the rules).
And.
I.
Loved.
It!
Yes, water got in my ears. But it wasn't as big a deal as I remember it at age 12.
And yes, water got in my nose. But I figured out how to prevent that.
And in the process, I realized I really really like swimming.
And the rest--as they say--is history. I've been in the pool everyday swimming for the last 40 days. (Minus Sunday, mind ya.)
I can't believe how much I have missed out on--NOT SWIMMING--these last 40 years (handstands, holding your breath contests, races, "colors," "marco polo," and the benefit of the exercise itself).
Holy cow!
I can't wait for my next What If!
