Trying Something New

Getting out of your comfort zone can be a little scary. What if you try something new and you don’t like it? What if it goes poorly? What if you embarrass yourself? And my reply is – Who Cares?! I encourage you to have the confidence to try something new! Maybe it’s walking a new trail, meditating, cooking eggplant lasagna, or trying yoga or tai chi. It could also be learning calligraphy, a new language, or how to play the guitar.

What are you curious about? What has been on your mind for a long time that you haven’t taken action to make happen yet. Give it a try! One little try! It will likely feel clumsy at first and it may not go as you planned in your head. AND, you did it! You are SO damn brave to try! Maybe this will be your new passion! Or maybe this will be a one-time deal. In either case you should celebrate giving it a go! For most people, it takes practice and time to get good at something. Instant perfection rarely happens, although sometimes you may find an instant match. And it begins with taking the first step!

I’ve always been athletically inclined. I played soccer and ran cross-country and track as a kid/teen. Now I enjoy hiking, biking, running and walks. What they have in common is that they are all on land! I’ve always joked that I ‘sink like a rock’ in water. This was my excuse not to swim, and I’ve gripped tightly onto that excuse with both hands - until recently.

I’ve been thinking about swimming for months, mulling it over, and not taking any action. Very typical for me – I think of doing lots of new things – and wait for an opportunity. In November, I created an opportunity to swim. For a milestone event (3000 days in a row of exercising), I decided to do a Mini Triathlon over 3 days. The first day I ran a 10K, which was a stretch for me since I’m just getting back into running. With sore legs on the second day, I biked a 40K on a cold and blustery day. Why is it exponentially more difficult to bike in the winter?! And then on the third day, it was time to swim – the most challenging ‘event’ for me by far. I had to really psych myself up! I had never swum laps in a pool (and don’t even know the correct verb tense). I told myself that it’s a win if I actually get in the pool. Just. Get. In! I made a deal with myself that it’s ok to paddle around for 5 minutes and then I can get out at any time and go home. And hopefully I won’t sink to the bottom and stay there… Yes, I was really considering that this might happen.

On The Big Day, I used positive self-talk and reassurance to convince myself this was going to be ok. While cramming down hesitations, excuses, and fear, I drove to the pool. I navigated the locker room – I forgot about the ‘being naked in semi-public’ part of swimming, and that went smoothly. I picked a Friday evening to swim so there were few people present to witness my experiment with swimming – thank goodness. And then I got in! Not as cold as I expected. My first laps were terrible. I had no breath control and was sucking in water. My strokes were floppy and inefficient. I could barely swim the length of the pool! I swam as fast as I could to ensure that I had enough air to get to the other end - then got tired and had to rest. I rested often. I used a kickboard for some laps and tried fins, but that seemed like cheating. I noticed that everyone else had swim goggles and caps, and I had neither. I was in the pool for a whopping 35 minutes and felt ok, winded, and still alive. And proud!

Today was my 6th time swimming laps at the pool. I still have to psych myself up. I pick a day of the week in advance, check the pool schedule and block out a time so I can mentally prepare with a lot of reassuring words – ‘you can do it, Jenny’! I know that if I get in my swimsuit at home and get in the car – then I will get in the pool and do some laps (where else would I go in my swimsuit and flip flops in winter?). I still tell myself that it doesn’t matter how long or how far I swim, just that I’m doing it.

I’m still get anxious and I’m still not good and I’m ok with that. My first five minutes in the pool are crummy and I feel winded and wonder why I’m doing this. And then I find a little rhythm – a bit syncopated, the way I do it, which is working for me. I swim crawl strokes and backstroke and still use a kickboard when I need to catch my breath. I rarely pause and today I kept moving for 50 minutes! Through practice, I’ve definitely gotten better and now can breathe smoothly on my right side – and I’m still working on my left side. On my backstroke laps, I’ve learned how to watch the pipes and beams on the ceiling so I don’t bonk my head on the edge of the pool. I can’t say that I relax and there are definitely no meditative or zen-like moments, which I’ve heard about from other swimmers – maybe that will come with time.

I don’t look like a regular at the pool. My floral bikini and hair-in-a-ponytail is much different from the regulars who lean towards a black one-piece and swim cap. I feel like the lifeguards can tell I’m new at this and keep an extra eye out for me – but maybe that’s in my head. Today I got a friendly smile and nod from the woman next to my lane, which meant a lot to me. She saw that I was trying! And even more – doing it! And you know what? No one else is judging me or even paying attention, which I think you will find to be true as well. Sometimes we are the worst critics of ourselves when we should be our biggest cheerleaders.

I’m past the ‘trying’ stage and now I’m committing to it, with a goal of swimming laps once a week. Right now, it feels really hard, but soon it will feel familiar and a normal part of my life, such as making a new habit will. I’m thinking ahead to a year from now when I’ve been to the pool 50+ times and how much better I’ll be. I know that there will be days and weeks when I really don’t want to go and I’m going to have to dig deep to make myself swim. And there are so many benefits which gives me motivation to continue. Just keep swimming!

Challenging yourself and learning something new helps to build new muscles in your body and pathways in your brain. It is the good variety of stress and anxiety which enhances performance and puts some excitement in our lives. And by trying something new, you may find something that you’re absolutely over-the-moon passionate about – and how else will you know unless you give it a whirl. What have you been curious to try? GO DO IT!

And here’s a foonote: I’m trying something new by writing a blog, as well. It’s my first one! I know it’s not perfect and I’ll get better with practice. AND – I’m doing it!

18-swims-completed update: I’m still doing it, steady Eddie, once per week. It’s just part of my week now, no big apprehension, but those first 5-minutes are still not smooth. I think my body takes some time to get on board with the idea that we’re working hard to travel through water now. It feels good to really tune in and notice and make little improvements - my crawl stroke is really coming along! I used to say, “I’m not very good” - and now I say, “I’m a beginner”= improved self talk. And, I bought a swim cap last week! It’s lime green - how could I not choose a cool color?! Still no zen with my swimming - it’s coordination and concentration.

Resource: ‘Atomic Habits’ by James Clear is a thought-provoking and useful book if you want to learn to build new healthy habits and take more control of your life. I learned many tips that could be put into use immediately.