On Being A Beginner

On her very first day of swim team Anna jumped right in and swam four laps, barely stopping. 

I'm not sure when the last time you swam four laps without a lot of rest, but it's truly not easy, especially if you don't have your side-breathing down quite yet. 

"Swim Team is hard." she whispered to me as she sat on my lap after getting out of the pool shivering. 

We all start as beginners. Every single one of us. And often it's hard and scary and uncertain. We all have to start somewhere - whether that's in the pool, on the page, in a classroom, introducing yourself to a new friend, etc. 

But man it can be so fun and so rewarding and so life-affirming when we let ourselves be in that spot. Unsure, nervous, uncomfortable - and we do it anyway.  

I loved that she jumped right in and I love that she got out when she needed some support.

And so we sat. I hugged her tight all wrapped up in her towel while we watched the other kids swim down and back and down and back. I had no problem just watching and letting her acclimate and asking her if she'd like to try again tomorrow and watching her nod and knowing that she would try it again tomorrow because she's that kind of kid. 

Report from Day Two

Last night as I was tucking her in Anna told me, "Tomorrow I'm going to get in the pool and stay in for the whole practice." 

She did exactly that and loved it. 

And the weather cooperated with beautiful sunny skies. 

I won't lie - I kinda hope I have shots like this for many years to come. 

And I hope she keeps wanting to be a beginniner. 

I hope that for myself. And for you.