Dive In!

I learned to swim when I was a kid but I could never master diving. When I was around 25, my niece taught me how to dive. We stood at the side of the pool together ... she was about 5 years old and I was about 25 years old. She was about 3 feet tall, I was 5' 8" the same as I am now.

She had a lot less distance to fall head first (hands first?) into the pool. I felt like I had miles to go before I hit the water.

Diving takes a lot of "letting go" and "letting loose" which isn't so easy.

So every summer when the hot weather rolls around, as it has this week, I love to swim and I love to keep working on my diving. I'm not a very courageous diver. You really have to do that STEP-STEP-STEP-BOUNCE thing to get up in the air a bit and THEN dive down and into the water. I don't like the bounce part, it scares me.

But I'm getting better. Because I love the rush of the water all around me as I hit the surface, it's like nothing else.

I love diving in and I'm so glad I didn't feel stupid or shy about learning how to do it later in life. Trying to master a sport or activity, even a language, later in life gives you a feeling of great courage and humility.

So try something new and please, dive in! You'll be glad you tried it.