5 life lessons I've learned from swimming (1)

This post is inspired by 5 life lessons I've learned from running.

If you don't try, you will definitely drown.

And if you do, you have a chance of survival. Most of us in Singapore grow up with us taking compulsory swimming lessons in school. I guess that's a good survival skill. I passed the beginner course with ease, but failed my immediate due to another human fault. But that didn't hinder me from swimming. Immediate course was to master "frog-style" and now I already did, I even invented "doggy-style" where you swim with the head above the waters. That said, it leads to the second lesson (below).

Don't let a failure set you back from achieving your goal.

Sometimes you have to drown to conquer that fear you have.

Exactly. I almost drowned once, not in the pool but in the sea (in Thailand). I always had this phobia of not being able to touch the ground with my feet. But this is exactly it, I can never touch the bottom of the ground in some situations. I have to learn to accept or overcome it. Of course, I have never thought about using drowning to conquer that fear, it was a freak incident. After that, surprisingly it did not deter me from swimming. I continued to swim in the pool (though usually those I can have my feet on the ground). More recently, I found myself conquering a new territory - swimming in the lap pool! To me, that's an achievement.

Stamina comes with practicing.

Like everything else in life, you usually get better and better by practicing. When I went back to the pool after months or even a year of not swimming, the first few half-laps left me panting like a dog. I used to have swim dates with a friend,  it's a great motivation to have a sports buddy. But since she left for the States, I found my new friend (discipline). It's not as bad really. I have began to set myself a time frame to finish a certain number of laps. I began with 6 laps, then increased to 8, 10, 12 and occasionally 14 (all these in a few months)! 12 laps' pretty good for me since it's doubled of what I had started with.

Learn to enjoy it.

If you are passionate about something, you usually don't find it a chore. Doing it will help you relax. The best things about it - it keeps you active, clears your mind, relieves stress and also helps you to lose those extra kilos. In fact, I have shed a few and it does make me feel better about myself.

Failed contest

One of those contests you really shouldn't bother taking part... Look at the results, the same names appeared time and time again (wonder if they did an honest audit)! Same surname, are they a family? It's okay not being a lucky winner, but they should play it fair.

I wrote them a feedback, but they took a while to reply and tried to brush me off by sending me some plastic folders (which I have trashed!). Not supporting your products anymore!

Reboot

I feel like I'm starting all over again but that's okay as long as I'm paving the right path, the foundation needs to be laid. I caught a glimpse through the thick fog, only to realise I need to wait till it clears before I can see. Somehow, I noticed my motivation returning, slowly but surely. Thank you books, friends, family and strength... You kept me going!

There are improvements. From calls from job agencies, I am going for real interviews at companies and not fruitless ones at recruitment agencies.

Some things about a recent interview irked me. This arrogant interviewer with such aloof attitude never bothered to acknowledge my e-mail after requesting me to send something over. How unprofessional! The whole time during the interview, he didn't smile and his body language was already telling me he wasn't really interested. I guess you do really meet all kinds of people - some nice and some a** like this.