"The brave man is not he who does not feel afraid, but he who conquers that fear."
--Nelson Mandela
I am a late bloomer. I grew up poor and in the hood. I was also afraid of everything.
Well most things... but especially swimming.
Wait... I need to be a little more accurate here so you will get the message.
I had a terrible fear of drowning.
Which was why I was afraid of swimming.
1+1= Kid logic....
That didn't really make things easy for especially growing up where the only things we had to do in the ghettos of Baltimore City were to play sports at the local rec center, climb trees and.... swim at the public pool.
Here is the thing. I had never learned how to swim.
I was so afraid of drowning that I spent most of my time on the sidelines watching other kids play.
Please keep in mind... late bloomer versus a "Never" bloomer.
Anyway.....
One day, after holding onto the wall for what seemed like forever, I decided that I was tired of looking at the fun versus having the fun.
I let go of the wall... afraid and all and plunged my head under water.
This doesn't mean I suddenly KNEW how to swim. But I understood the mechanics well enough to go from one side of the pool to the other.
Without drowning mind you.
From that point on, I made it my mission to try to swim a little longer, to swim a little further, to move a little closer to the deeper end of the pool.
Was it easy? Of course not.
You have no idea how scared I was, looking at all of the chlorine blue water.....but that didn't stop me.
Paused....yes. Stopped....no.
FOF.... Fear of Failure.
For many, the analogy of my fear of swimming can sometimes translate to how many navigate life.
I didn't know how to properly swim and my fear was bigger than my desire to be successful.
It was hard to admit that until I realized that by doing so i could remove the obstacle in order to gain the "Fun" I had been missing out on .
Too often we allow our fear and our lack of knowledge deter us from doing the things we could possibly enjoy and just importantly things that could benefit us both in the now... and the later.
Life... success.... fulfilment are way to important to miss our opportunities .... on purpose.
Fear isn't always bad at least not when it is dressed as "Caution". Even then too much caution can lead to procrastination and immobility.
Inaction is an action, just not a fruitful one.
In that vein I need you to be mindful that fear.... doubt should not stop you from doing that which will benefit your life.
So the next time you find yourself standing in 3ft, holding on to the wall...
Use that fear as fuel, take a step, hold your breath and ......swim.
Speaker...Author.. Coach...Motiv8tional Warrior
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