Reaching for the lifebuoy

The year that I turned 5, we moved to the coastal area of Chaka’s Rock. Our house was on a hill and overlooked the Indian ocean and there were Canna Lilies lining the driveway.

There were sugar cane plantations around us and the memory of the smells, colours and sights are as present to me now, as ever.

Because we were so close to the sea and planned to spend a lot of time swimming in the waves, my Dad decided it was time I learnt to swim. So one day we went to the magnificent tidal pool at Chaka’s Rock to accomplish this. I guess he had no doubt that I would manage. I was a well coordinated child who could ride a bike, do cartwheels and follow directions. And I was certainly keen. Water being my happy place, even then.

Part one of the lesson was learning how to float. Which is pretty easy if the water is salty and your body knows what to do intuitively. But having tried to pass on this skill to my own children, I realise that we both took for granted that I would manage.

Once I could float for a fair amount of time, he taught me to tread water. It seemed like a fun game, an extension of floating, but upright this time and my legs moving lazily underneath me. Keeping my head above water was no more of a challenge than floating had been.

The final step was to swim… propelling myself from one end of the tidal pool to the other. There was no emphasis on grace or style, he explained how dogs paddle with their front legs and once I declared myself ready to try, I was launched into the water and my Dad walked along the sea wall, keeping stride with me as I made my way to the other side. Once there, he expressed his pride in my effort and I was launched back in for the return journey.

Again I was able to keep myself afloat and even move forwards towards my goal.

I have often thought about this day, remembering that my Mom was less thrilled by the abrupt nature of this lesson and wondering if I should have felt fear/ apprehension. And yet I just remember the joy of mastering this life saving skill that meant I was also free to spend time in the ocean with my family.

As I was journaling today, I was reminded of this experience for a number of reasons:

I was writing about journaling being a lifebuoy. But one I don’t reach for nearly enough. And I remembered how well I float and tread water, neither exhausting me quickly.

But yet, there are times when the water is rough, there is an undertow or I am already tired when I enter the water. And the things that seem to have always come naturally to me, become exhausting.

That is when I start to look for the lifebuoy.

And it occurred to me that I rely heavily on my own resources/ abilities and spend too long in “survival mode”, before reaching for help. And just because my “survival mode” comes easily, it doesn’t need to be the default.

I guess I wanted to share these thoughts today because I am coming out of a season of “survival mode”. And I was exhausted by the time I reached for the lifebuoy. Almost too tired to hold on well.

I could have reached for it earlier. I should have reached for it earlier. It would have helped me and those around me.

If you are finding yourself in survival mode, treading water and floating to conserve energy, I want to encourage you to strike out towards the buoy earlier. Make your needs for support known before you run out of energy and the rescue becomes urgent.

And if you are already reaching for this help, I am so proud of you!

May we continue to learn that just because we can keep our heads above water for long periods of time, it doesn’t mean we need to.

(Image credit: Image by Gerd Altman from Pixabay)