The Blessing of Sink-or-Swim
Maybe it's because I was a swimmer for a decade, but I have found that I've always done well in sink-or-swim situations. As intimidating as they can be for people to face, you usually end up surprising yourself with a combination of your determination to thrive and your own fortitude.
No doubt about it, this is what keeps everyone from taking the leap.
What if the water is cold?
What if you can't touch the bottom?
What if there is gross seaweed?
OH MY GOSH WHAT IF THERE ARE HUGE, GROSS FISH IN THERE AT BITE YOU?!?!
Are you sure about that?
Do you ever remember floating on an air mattress and bumping into the walls of the pool when you're just trying to catch a quick tan (or in my case, sunburn)? How about trying to just float on a mattress in the ocean?
How much control does FLOATING allow? Yes, you're above water but you're sort of just existing. There's no rudder. You're a victim to the wind and tide. You have no control at all when you float passively.
Floating is dangerously close to "coasting". Coasting in life generally drifts downwards. Things don't change.
Floating indicates you consider yourself a victim of circumstance or of other people. You're completely comfortable just hoping something will change, but it never will. And you can bet that if you thought you were safe for awhile, eventually that air mattress is going to get a hole and just start to deflate anyways.
Then you're back to square one: sink or swim?
Kick, kick, kick! Paddle, paddle, paddle!
Swimming can be freaking exhausting. I would know. I was a distance swimmer in college, which meant I swam 6-10 miles a day. I smelled like chlorine perpetually from 15 to 22.
Think to your own life.
For that matter... try to think about all of life in this way.
For that matter... try to think about all of life in this way.
In general, your choices go as follows:
- Sink
- Float
- Swim
Sinking Can Suck.
No doubt about it, this is what keeps everyone from taking the leap.
What if the water is cold?
What if you can't touch the bottom?
What if there is gross seaweed?
OH MY GOSH WHAT IF THERE ARE HUGE, GROSS FISH IN THERE AT BITE YOU?!?!
These are all risks. And these are no different than the questions you ask entering ANYTHING unfamiliar. Dating (What if he/she is mean? Crazy? What if they cheat? I wish I had a guarantee!), business (What if it fails? What if I go in debt? What if nobody cares about what I'm doing?). If you name any scenario, it pretty much leaves you with that same sense of anxiety as your first day of school and not having anyone to sit with in the cafeteria.
You HAVE to be willing to put yourself out there in order to get anywhere!
Sinking, however, is usually a learning experience and an opportunity to grow.
Yup, you might get hurt, You might fail. You could be uncomfortable. But in these moments of vulnerability, there is the choice to change your perception and not feel bad about it. There's no shame in sinking. Everyone does sometimes.
Perception is the key. You can always choose to see things differently. If you get rejected for a job or by someone you had a crush on, you can wail and beat yourself up or you can literally just say "I'm okay with this. This frees me up for something better." If you start a business and it doesn't do well, you can literally just see it as a learning experience and realize there are a million lessons on how to run one more efficiently going forward instead of shutting yourself in a closet of shame.
I'm willing to bet, more often than not, you won't TRULY sink. Very rarely do people genuinely experience this in its extremes. Again, it's a matter of choice in how you perceive this.
You HAVE to be willing to put yourself out there in order to get anywhere!
Sinking, however, is usually a learning experience and an opportunity to grow.
Yup, you might get hurt, You might fail. You could be uncomfortable. But in these moments of vulnerability, there is the choice to change your perception and not feel bad about it. There's no shame in sinking. Everyone does sometimes.
Perception is the key. You can always choose to see things differently. If you get rejected for a job or by someone you had a crush on, you can wail and beat yourself up or you can literally just say "I'm okay with this. This frees me up for something better." If you start a business and it doesn't do well, you can literally just see it as a learning experience and realize there are a million lessons on how to run one more efficiently going forward instead of shutting yourself in a closet of shame.
I'm willing to bet, more often than not, you won't TRULY sink. Very rarely do people genuinely experience this in its extremes. Again, it's a matter of choice in how you perceive this.
Floating Is Just Surviving.
Well this doesn't seem so bad to most people, right?
Are you sure about that?
Do you ever remember floating on an air mattress and bumping into the walls of the pool when you're just trying to catch a quick tan (or in my case, sunburn)? How about trying to just float on a mattress in the ocean?
How much control does FLOATING allow? Yes, you're above water but you're sort of just existing. There's no rudder. You're a victim to the wind and tide. You have no control at all when you float passively.
Floating is dangerously close to "coasting". Coasting in life generally drifts downwards. Things don't change.
Floating indicates you consider yourself a victim of circumstance or of other people. You're completely comfortable just hoping something will change, but it never will. And you can bet that if you thought you were safe for awhile, eventually that air mattress is going to get a hole and just start to deflate anyways.
Then you're back to square one: sink or swim?
Swim Your Ass Off
Kick, kick, kick! Paddle, paddle, paddle!
Swimming can be freaking exhausting. I would know. I was a distance swimmer in college, which meant I swam 6-10 miles a day. I smelled like chlorine perpetually from 15 to 22.
I can't think of a single time I regretted it. There was always a sense of pride and accomplishment after a race, even if I was exhausted after swimming 66 lengths of the pool for my event. Swimming kicks ass. It can kick YOUR ass, but talk about pride and forward momentum!
Swimming is just control. It's making the choice to change directions, strokes, depths, and if you want to rest or not. If you're armed with the right tools and knowledge (goggles, proper technique), it gets easier and is incredibly empowering.
Swimming is just control. It's making the choice to change directions, strokes, depths, and if you want to rest or not. If you're armed with the right tools and knowledge (goggles, proper technique), it gets easier and is incredibly empowering.
My point in all of this is that in life, it's usually a choice. And most of the time it is yours to make. You can choose to never get in the water. You can choose to avoid risk and sinking. You can even choose floating and pretend like that half-assed flutter kick you're doing with Spongebob water wings on is efficient. But when a swimmer glides past you, cutting through the water like a blade with ease, your reality will sink in. You ain't going nowhere, partner.
The worst case scenario in this is simply choosing to never try, or framing any form of sinking as failure. I would be willing to bet that if you look back at times where you had to sink or swim, you usually chose the latter and braved through it with success. Give yourself some credit!
The worst case scenario in this is simply choosing to never try, or framing any form of sinking as failure. I would be willing to bet that if you look back at times where you had to sink or swim, you usually chose the latter and braved through it with success. Give yourself some credit!
Your race is starting.
Are you going to fly off the starting blocks at the whistle or miss your event entirely?
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