"Well, it's now Wednesday evening and less than 48 hours before swimming lesson number 1 begins. I thought by now I might be feeling REALLY scared about doing it.....maybe even thinking about excuses I could think up so I wouldn't have to go. You know, something like, "Laurie, I hate to have to cancel my first lesson but ___________(fill in the blank with some lame-brain excuse). Call it "denial" if you wish, but for now I have just kind of come to peace with the fact that I'm going down to the YMCA on Friday morning and try to learn to swim.
You've heard it said that "too much knowledge" isn't always a good thing? I think that saying may well have come about when someone, just like me, spent hours on the internet trying to find the solution to getting over their fear of swimming. And the end result was that they were even more confused and frightened than they were before hand. I spent a lot of time "googling" phrases like, "fear of swimming" and "afraid of the water." Most of the the places I found were of little use to me.
There was a site, however, that was pretty plain and to the point. It offered 5 things to consider prior to heading to the very first swimming lesson. I found it to be actually quite helpful instead of making things seem much worse. Their thoughts:
1. pinpoint your fear-Why are you so afraid of learning to swim?
Easy for me to answer that one...Thought I was going to drown on day #1 of swim lessons at age 10. Never seemed to get over that dreadful event.
2. positive self-talk-What good things can come from learning to swim? Well, I'm trying to learn so I can swim well enough to save my own life sometime. That should count for something. And, since a very qualified swim instructor is helping me, I shouldn't be worrying about anything further.
3. set goals-What do I want to do? Hey, that's simple....I want to show up at each of the 4 lessons that I have already paid for, get into the pool, pay attention to the instructor, and learn. In other words, I prefer to not "chicken out."
4. get a qualified teacher-Already did that...Laurie is the best choice for me.
5. go slow-Is there any other way? lol
When I slide into that pool on Friday, it will be the first time that I've gotten into a swimming pool since 1965....seriously.....46 years ago. Oh I've dangled my feet into the very shallow end of swimming pools since then...but dangling is the extent of it. I don't expect to be a champion swimmer at the end of the 4th and final lesson. If I am lucky, I'll learn to at least float on my back without getting scared that I will sink and drown.
In the days since I decided to give swimming a try, I have run into a handful of adults who, just like me, have never learned to swim. This afternoon I ran into a friend who discreetly took me aside and whispered in my ear..."Don't feel bad Peggy. I never learned to do it either."
Hey, I didn't mention it but I found lots of sites directed at only adults who wanted to learn to swim. Didn't seem to matter your gender, age, where you lived, how much money you made. There was a program out there to teach you.
One such school for adult non-swimmers boasted "Learn how to swim like an Olympian in only 6 days!" They guaranteed that claim with the quote, "Over 30,000 satisfied adults world wide." When they said "world wide", they meant it. Their swimming schools were in Bahrain and Phoenix, Arizona.
Nah, I think I'll still just trot the half-mile over to the YMCA and give Laurie a chance to teach me.
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