Why I Swim

Swimming is a sport that is difficult tiring and at times painful. It is also a sport that I am not particularly amazing at, nevertheless I continue to go through practice every week day trying to improve myself. I often find myself thinking about why I go through with the taxing practices when I can see everyone else getting better than I can ever seem to get. When my thoughts come to this I get discouraged and angry at myself for not being good enough. Then I remember the feeling I get when I let myself become a part of the water, the euphoria of having my bad day washed away, my worries forgotten, and all becoming right with the world, if only for the time I spend in the water. I also remember the adrenaline that accompanies swim meets and the thrill I get when I have swam my best time. My times may not be the best out of everyone but each time is the best for me. The feeling I have, down in the depths of my stomach and quite possibly in my soul, every time I get up on the blocks to swim is irreplaceable and consuming. What it really comes down to is that I love to swim, I love the connection between me and the water, and I love the freedom the water gives my mind. When I swim only my body is occupied with the strokes, my brain is free to roam and to discover and solve the mysteries of my life. The water around me becomes an outlet for my anger, each stroke tearing away the pain until I am completely and blissfully myself, no longer just a mass of confused emotion, but me, just me. That is why I swim, That is why anyone should do anything. Not because they feel they need to or they have no choice, but because when they do it they find a part of themselves that was lost or that they had forgotten long before.
People of course have obligations, things they must do despite any effort to get out of it. Life is not perfect and no person can love everything they do (if you happen to be a counterexample for this thought please comment and tell me how you do it.) My plan is to do my best to find everything I love and allow those things to become more than the things I must do. Life is for loving and laughing and though the tears will inevitably come the laughter can overcome. It is each persons duty to find the things, or maybe just one thing, that gives them bliss, that makes them forget about how big the bad may seem. When you have found the good you can overcome the bad no matter how huge and invincible it may seem. Maybe this is a bit of an over-dramatic reason to jump in a pool and move my arms and legs repeatedly but it works for me and that is going to have to be enough.