Overprotected?

The worst part of swimming is the end of the pool. You never really get anywhere, or go anywhere – just back and forth, back and forth. I swam 2200 yards today. It took an hour. I could have walked that distance at a leisurely pace in 20 minutes. A decent swimmer could have done it in 25 minutes.

I’m just slow. At the triathlon they calculate your average pace in seconds per 100 yards. They calculate my average time in relative progress, you know, like a glacier. I swim sort of like congress – lots and lots of flailing around causing lots of waves and noise but very little actual progress.

2200 yards is down and back 44 times. Swimming that far is one thing, keeping track of laps in another. My system is count up to 10 and then back down to 1, over and over. It’s hard to be sure you counted all the laps. 2200 yards is 1.2 miles, counting every one minute and 10 seconds – 7, 8, 9, 10, 10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5 and on and on. Yesterday I ran 15 miles- one lap.

I have to say, however, that I m beginning to enjoy swimming, at times. Since I’m taking it real easy and not pushing it I can keep heart rate down, and actually relax. So, especially for the first 30 minutes today it just felt so relaxing to be in the water, and the sun was shining, I could think about editing the three, no four movies I’m currently working on.

I never thought I would ever say I enjoyed swimming.

I swim in the community pool and I arrived when it opened at 10:00. I was the only person there except for the four life guards. It was certainly the safest miles anyone ever swam.

That’s a little bit like our lives – we are sometimes over-protected in the wrong areas. We have insured our houses, health expenses, cars, and income. We lock our doors, secure our computers, and apply sun screen. But what system is keeping track of our heart? What alarm goes off when we speak a harsh word, or put someone down, or tear someone down when they aren’t there? Who jumps in to rescue us when we discount all the blessings we have and turn a craving eye on cars, houses, jobs, lifestyles, vacations? What system do we have to keep tender hearts open to the lost, the poor, or the needy?