One busy year is almost coming to a close for me. Between its high and low moments, I still managed to keep on laughing and continue to express it through the comic strip. Swimming, I must say, has paved ways or parted waters toward other aquatic fields besides lifeguarding. More recently I have been assisting as a coach for a year-round swim team, in addition to teaching private swim lessons on occasion. The value of knowing how to swim has helped me in several ways that I am thankful for. My fourth job, by the way, is coaching a small gym class on Fridays.
Since November, lifeguarding, coaching and lessons have dragged me to different pools and all I could think of was, “I really need to get back in the water and swim again!” Last week, I was finally able to make it to a DAMA (Durham Area Masters) swim practice. It hurts getting back in shape, but it’s great telling people, “I swam two and a half miles this morning.” The difficulty for all of us is finding time to do everything that we enjoy; getting back in the water was one of them for me. I probably can’t swim as often as I want, but now I can safely say, I won’t be jumping in the water to get back in shape with the New Year’s resolution crowd. Here in NC, we are having some warm winter days, so why wait for the New Year? Take a walk, ride a bike, go for a jog or stroke the water. You’ll feel so much better!