Saturday, October 19, 2013

day 113 : talking about fear & encouraging others

happy saturday! 
you guys, i have been overwhelmed by all the texts, emails, tweets, messages & support regarding the be nice box!
i think the coolest thing is that there is a group of people floating around the world {YOU} that believes in the same thing i do! 
you believe in spreading kindness. you believe in sharing goodness. you believe in making this planet better. i love that. we are doing it! 
thank you so, so, so much!
{gosh, i really do appreciate it!}
{side note : there is only ONE box left for the month of november! so, when that box sells out, there will be a waiting list for the december box. subscribers and waiting list folks are GUARANTEED a spot for the new box BEFORE it gets opened up to everybody else!}
{to snag the spot, head here}
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fear! 
this could be a huge post all on its own ; but ill cut it down for you ;)
currently, i am 4 weeks in to my first adult swim class. it is once a week & hosted through community education.
there are four of us ; all grown adults. and all with deep fear of the water.
when i was a little, little kid, i use to take swim lessons ; but have ALWAYS been afraid of deep water. always.
i had a few bad experiences as a kid with deep water that still haunt me now. i am fine dunking my head under. fine bouncing around. but, the second my feet cant touch ; panic.
i cant swim. i cant tread. i dont even know how to dunk under without plugging my nose.

so, i turn 30 in a few months & while i was training for my duathlon, i kept thinking about how gratifying it would be to kick my fear, learn to swim & complete a triathlon.
{thinking about swimming in open water still gives me knots in my stomach, so im not sure if it would happen next summer ; but i would LOVE to complete one}
in my four weeks of class, i have learned to breathe underwater, to swim {like, actually swimming!!!} half-lengths of the pool, to tread water {for a few minutes at a time!} and to feel more comfortable in the water.
{i really have been terrified of water for YEARS, so this is such amazing progress for me!}

there is a women in our class. shes late-50s or early 60s and almost drowned when she was younger. each class, she grabs a few pool noodles and just sits in the shallowest part of the pool and just bobs. {she sits at the 90* angle of the length & width of the pool, so shes wedged in the corner} for her, this is huge. each class, she & i talk about fear. about progress. and swim caps. ;)
last week, she started walking, with her pool noodles and got about 10 feet {distance, not depth} into the pool without holding onto the side. she said thats the farthest shes been in a pool since she was 8 years old.
i sat there & watched her with tears in my eyes. it was really like watching your child go off to college.
im sure i looked like a total creep watching her in the pool, but we made eye contact & told her that she was so incredibly inspiring & i hope she realized how amazing she is. i told her to go home & tell everybody she knows about the progress shes been making!
the fact that she has been so afraid to step foot in a pool for 45 years & we get to watch her progress is awesome.
fear is one nasty emotion ; the hold it can have & the memories it can bring can be pretty rotten.

your job : tell somebody that you are proud of them!
for working hard, for being a great parent, for being thoughtful ; anything awesome!
if you are on twitter, share your good & add the hashtag #benicebox, so we can all be inspired!

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