Phy The Mermaid?

Dear readers,

As I have written in my previous post I had just learned how to swim a few weeks ago. I am proud to say that I have made a lot of improvement despite going for a swim only once a week. Here's my progress for the past 3 weeks:

Week 1: Learned how to swim. Was able to swim to the middle of the swimming pool (at the short end of it). I would panic immediately when I lose my rhythm, resulting in me sinking and spluttering water out of my nose and mouth.

Week 2: Accidentally learned how to swim while keeping my head above the surface of the water. Also, as I floated on my back I tried to swim with the same principles of the breast stroke and I moved! From 3/4 length of the pool sampai the shallow end tau.Terkejut sy. Hehehe...  My stamina has improved. I could swim from one end to the other end of the pool with some effort.

I also learned how to flip from an upward floating position into swimming position. It wasn't easy! Entah berapa banyak gelen air sy tersedut dari hidung dan keluar dari mulut sy. Suffered a lot but I persevered and it paid off. In the end dapat juga flip dengan jayanya. Very proud of myself. *Pat on myself on the shoulder*

 Week 3: That's this week. I tried flipping from floating position into swimming position from my left side pula (on the 2nd week I focused on turning on my right side). Dapat buat walaupun clumsily and not so smooth. Then I tried to learn how to go from a swimming position to a floating position on my back. This I feel is very useful because kalo palis2 kaki cramp pun at least masih boleh float.

At first I could do it. Then after swimming as usual bila sy mo buat balik, inda boleh sudah! Here's the thing. When I really want to learn something, I would do it again and again until I get it right. Unfortunately for me time tengah2 sy geram and determined to learn la the clock struck 9.00pm. Nooooooo!!! Terpaksa lah beta akur dengan masa yang mencemburui my love affair with the pool.

I was really having a few bad days at work so on top of my allocated day for swimming (Tuesday), I insisted on going the next day as well. Baju renang yg belum kering bukan halangan. Pakai juga sebab eleh, sama juga basah bila masuk pool nanti kan. Masuk jak pool terus practice from swimming to floating position. It took me an hour but Alhamdulillah, dapat juga. As before I focused on flipping on my right side.

Tiba2 sy terfikir mo try doing the same thing on my left side pula but I was hesitant. What if I couldn't do it? What if the pool closes before I could manage to 'master' that maneuver on my left side? I knew I'd go bonkers with frustration if that happened. In the end I decided to just go for it and you know what? I could do it! Almost effortlessly too! In fact buat jak terus berjaya bukan like on my right side, hampir drown entah berapa kali baru dapat buat.

The cherry on top of that whole experience was that when I turn from a swimming to floating position on my left side, I could almost immediately get into swimming position again by turning on my right side. I hope that makes sense. Kiranya I could do a 360 degree turn la. Wah, I felt like a mermaid oh. Hehehe.. I could also swim from one end to the other end back and forth (on the shorter end, as usual). My stamina has further improved! I am so happy with my progress..

Sorry if this post sounds like I'm boasting. The reason why I wanted to share this story is because I had learned a lot of life lessons by swimming. First of all, you have go to try. At least try. Kalo tidak try mana kita tau apa outcome dia kan? Who knows, what might seem difficult is actually easy and your achievement might be beyond your expectations. Second, practice makes perfect. If you can get through the initial pain and hardship, you will improve with time and the payoff would be worth it. Third, you gotta want it to have it. Want is what fuels one's effort in doing something. If there is no desire for it, there will be no effort to acquire it. I try to apply these lessons to my job now and I feel a bit better, No longer do I dread going to work. At least not that much.

Swimming has become my favorite form of exercise and method of releasing stress. If only I could do it everyday. I wish the community recreational center where I go would fix the changing cubicles with a shower. At least boleh terus mandi, shampoo one's hair, etc. Ini terpaksa basahkan badan dengan shower tepi pool, pigi tukar baju then tunggu sampai rumah baru la boleh mandi betul2. Oh well, my love for swimming overcomes that small minor hiccup.

What about you, have you learned something new that you've fallen in love with? What is your favorite way to exercise or de-stress?

This is all for now dear readers. I hope you'll have a nice weekend. See you soon.


Love,
Phoebe
 
P/S: Oh and this week I bought a pair of goggles and a cap to keep my hair out of my face. Ewah3x... Hihihi...