Photo credit: http://sharkbait.shark.nu/
People often say, “Don’t you get bored swimming? It’s so monotonous: you swim back and forth and back and forth, and its always the same!” And they are correct. And that’s why I love it. Why?
Because swimming is the one and only thing in my life that isn’t a moving target.
There’s a book called “Who Moved My Cheese?” that’s a parable about four characters (mice) navigating a maze in pursuit of happiness (cheese), and they aren’t able to be happy until they figure out that the cheese is always moving. The parable communicates that one of the few constants in life is change, and the sooner you live in a way that acknowledges that, the happier you’ll be. This is true.
Photo Credit: Amazon
The moving target that is my life is as intense as ever, particularly at work. I’m exhausted from chasing the cheese, even though I’m well aware that it’s always moving. So when I went to the pool this morning, I can’t even begin to describe how therapeutic it was that the “T” marking the wall at the end of the lane stayed put and never moved. I’d put my head down, swim and swim, and didn’t have to think about it potentially moving to another place as I took my eyes off of the lane line to take a breath. I could mindlessly go back and forth and back and forth and never worry about a sudden change.
So yes. Swimming IS boring and that’s a good thing.