There are two I's in swimming, which means that when, I'm under water, all there is, is me. I am in a different element that's thick, quiet, and feels distant from daily life. That is until someone yanks me out of my zone!
In our hectic days, we rarely have enough time to focus on just ourselves. Swimming is my time. My mind is listening to my heartbeat and my breathing; I can feel how the water moves around my body, and how turning my hand one inch closer feels better than before. I can focus on the details to be better at something I enjoy. Some days I want to see how fast I can go and I'm first on my lane; somedays I want to experiment and go slower; those days I move to the end of the lane so I don't bother other swimmers. But occasionally, they seemed to be bothered nonetheless. There are those who get offended if I want to swim ahead of them or that insist that they are slower and refuse to go ahead, but keep on puffing behind me.
There are also two I's in living, but we can't live our lives ignoring the world around us. So I'm reaching out to you to see how you deal with putting yourself first sometimes, and not others? Do you ignore people? Are you blunt? At work, at home, how do you say "I'm in my zone, don't bother me" without sounding selfish?
3/18/2010
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For me, working out is big stress reliever. So my family just knows that it's non-negotiable. I don't do really long sweat sessions so sometimes, it's just using the BOSU ball, other times, it's running or walking my dog. But it's all so that I can be better person to everyone. Sometimes, the hardest person to understand me time is myself! I need to pull myself away from other tasks so I can unwind and refocus.
ReplyDeleteThere is nothing wrong with being selfish! At the very least it gives us a chance to hit the reset button and become that person the ones that love/like/tolerate us was in the first place!
ReplyDeleteI love my children more than the very beat of my heart but there are times I will tell them unless someone is bleeding/broken/dead leave me alone for an hour!
As for the lack of tolerence... it is a poor survival skill that one is ones "zone" is so delicate it can not withstand the unexpected and adapt accordingly. Pools are a confined communal system that should go without saying embrace tolerance and sportsmanship.
I ride a bike frequently for many miles and I with out fail a couple times a month nearly or do get blown off the road. I have less less sympathy for trucks and teenagers on cell phones than I do a lane mate.
I hope this helps!
Thanks guys!
ReplyDeletePam, as you can se, I can be also my biggest enemy, and sometime, getting to the pool is winning have the battle.
Buzz, I followed your advice this weekend. Four swimmers, one lane. Two were fast (yes, me included) and two were really slow. We had no choice but to be selfish and adapt, so we kept passing the slower swimmers, nobody got offended and I had one of the best workouts in a while. Thanks!