Becoming a Swimmer

When was the last time you sucked at something?

I have recently taken up swimming. And let me tell you, I am truly terrible at it.

It is not like I didn’t know how to swim. In fact, back in my middle school days, I used to be a pretty damn good swimmer. However, I stopped swimming regularly over the years, and while I always liked the idea of becoming a swimmer again, I just never did. But when gyms closed and running started to hurt my back, I needed a workout alternative.

I bought my Speedo bathing suit and a swim cap to look the part and quickly realized that it is not as easy as those people effortlessly gliding around the pool make it look. My 30 minutes of swimming laps definitely involved quite a bit of resting.

But I kept going back to the pool and have noticed that I am getting better. Once I actually figured out the correct way to breathe, that helped a lot! And I am starting to crave those early mornings at the pool with the sun shining and no phone or distractions.

So while I may still suck at it right now, I definitely suck less than when I first started. I am also kind of proud of myself for willingly trying something I am so bad at and sticking with it.

We tend to avoid doing things that we aren’t good at. Similar to our previous discussion of comfort zones, it is uncomfortable and a little embarrassing to do something that you are bad at, so we (generally) just don’t do those things.

But that also causes us to miss out on things that we want to do or try. As well as that incredible feeling of accomplishment that comes with getting better at something you once were awful at. There are also a number of health benefits that come with learning something new – it improves your brain function, helps you learn better in general, and can even potentially help stave off dementia.

I encourage you to try something you suck at and feel that pride that comes with actually choosing to do something you aren’t good at. Plus, it is fun to learn something new!

As for me, I will be sticking with swimming for a while, and am already brainstorming what the next thing I want to suck at will be – leaning towards surfing…  

What do you want to try?