Hard to imagine being cold, now that I’m living through a Las Vegas summer! But just a few months ago, I was battling ice storms in Québec, with the crew of the 2nd documentary about me, Au pied du Mur / Inner Walls.
It was a hit in all 10 cities where it premiered. Sold out everywhere! After each showing, we answered questions and signed books. Lots of ‘em!
And now it’s summer.
Summer is all about water. The beach. The lake. The pool. How old were you when you learned to swim? Three? Five (common in California)? Ten? Fifty?
I grew up in NYC. At the beaches on Long Island, the waves were huge (for a little girl) and too violent. All my aunts and uncles always hovered at the water’s edge, shouting, “Don’t go in too far!” or “Be careful!” or “Look out!” So although I loved the beach, I never learned to swim there.
City pools were over-crowded, elbow to elbow, just for cooling off.
Fear of the water is paralyzing. Everyone else is having a wonderful time, jumping, diving, shaking off and plunging in again. But fear keeps you clamped to the edge of the pool, or stranded on the beach, trying to smile while everyone else has fun. They can’t know the agony of wanting, of wondering, of fear.
When we moved to the house where my kids grew up, near Sacramento, California, I was in my forties. I watched my kids get used to the water in our in-ground pool; pools are common here, where summer weather lasts about 5 months and temperatures routinely go above 100. They had no fear. As I cooked (I could see them in the pool from my kitchen and living room), and cleaned, and worked, they got better and better at it.
I was jealous!
So one summer, when I was about 48 or so, I finally wanted it badly enough! I stepped gingerly in, trying to remember the strokes I’d watched people doing. I tried them all.
You, who learned when you were 3 or 5 or 10, you have no idea how complex it is! How hard it is to breathe while doing all those contortions! And if you can’t see where you’re going – my eyes are too sensitive to open them in water – it’s hard to avoid bumping into things! So many scraped fingers!
But I went out there every afternoon, the hottest time of day, and did laps, any way I could. Three. Then five. After a while, I worked up to getting across and back ten times! (Eight strokes got me across once.) Major accomplishment. Ten laps! And then twelve, and then…. Every day, all summer.
I’ll never be a really strong swimmer, but I don’t fear the water anymore. When I go somewhere beach-like – Hawaii, Cancun, Rockaway – I can slip easily into the water with my friends, and swim – actually swim! – across the little bay, or pier to pier, or just along the beach. I no longer have to stay in the shallow part, where I can stand. Freedom!
If you learned to swim as you grew up, thank your parents (or whoever made that happen). They gave you a great gift!
And if you taught yourself as you grew up, kudos to you! Good work!
And if you have children, I hope you’ll consider giving them that gift. I wish my parents had!
The real take-away here, though, has nothing to do with swimming.
I dreamed of learning to swim for over 40 years. I always lived in places or circumstances where it wasn’t really an option, but I never stopped dreaming about it. Do you have a dream like that?
We think of all kinds of excuses to explain why we haven’t accomplished our dream yet. But here’s the kicker —
If you haven’t accomplished your dream, it’s because you don’t want it badly enough.
Whether you achieve your dream depends on 3 things —
1) Wanting it badly enough.
2) Sometimes, an opportunity from the universe (you might not recognize this for what it is, at first; it took me a while), or one that you make happen.
And the most essential requirement:
3) the method that shows you how to proceed.
I’d always dreamed of someday conducting an orchestra. Reality, though, was cruel: I had no credentials, no diploma, nothing on paper that qualified me to do what I dreamed of. Like swimming, it seemed out of reach.
Until it wasn’t. Once I realized I had the method to do anything I wanted, I just moved ahead and did it. I created my orchestra, and conducted it for years. I became an international tour guide. I performed with multiple orchestras. I worked at JFK Airport. I published multiple award-winning books. I learned to swim, and to speak 9 languages. I became an international speaker, and spoke in 12 countries. Once you have this method, there is no limit to what you can accomplish!
Last year I published the book that lays out this method for anyone to use. Now you have no more excuses! Get yourself a copy, and go achieve that dream of yours!
And even if it takes you 40 years, like some of mine did, know that it’s never too late.
If you enjoyed that, I’d like to invite you to read my work on Substack — https://dierdre.substack.com/ It’s free, and fun!