When my alarm went off at 5am, I wanted to stay in bed. I did stay in bed, for about 15 minutes, debating whether I should go to the pool or not.
"I could just go to the gym later and do the elliptical," I thought. "But that is not a swim. You said you wanted to swim today," I debated with that other half of myself. "It's so early, though! And gloomy out. It's nice and warm right here," I wheedled. "Shut up. Get your ass out of this bed, go eat some frickin' toast, and quit your whining." Man. The side of me that wanted to get up and swim was BOSSY.
But I did, in fact, get up this morning and put my suit on. I ate my toast and almond butter. I got back into bed at one point, thinking maybe I should just scrap this crazy plan. I got back out of bed, promising myself that my reward for swimming so god-awful early would be to go back to bed. I made it out the door. Into my car. Down the highway. I made it through the parking lot, the locker room.
As I slipped into the freezing pool (GOOD MORNING!!), I just started swimming. A few laps to warm-up. A few laps with a kick board. My body started remembering how to swim, after a few weeks off. I did 300 yards or so without stopping, until my body started keeping rhythm with itself and it started feeling a good bit like natural. After all the hemming and hawing when my alarm went off, it was kind of like the swimming was the easy part. I took a breather, and watched the other swimmers. Strong swimmers, weaker swimmers. But all people who got up extra early on a Tuesday, just to get in the pool and get some exercise before the day got crazy. I was not the only one, and we would all get out of this pool in our own time, satisfied with the work we'd done.
After my workout, I didn't go back to bed as I'd promised myself. Instead, I went grocery shopping. Let me tell you, 7am on a weekday is probably the most peaceful time to go to Meijer. Nobody but shelf stockers, a few cleaning guys, some cashiers... and a couple of people grabbing an apple or a frozen entree before work. I found myself focused, energized, and ready to face the challenges of the day.
And maybe that's because few things are more challenging for me than just letting my feet hit the carpet at 5am. Just taking the step of getting out of bed and saying, "Today, I'm going to put myself to the test."
Today, put yourself to the test. You are capable of great things!
until later...
“If one synchronized swimmer drowns, do all the rest have to drown too?” – Steven Wright
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