Do Something That Scares You

This week I had the serene pleasure of spending some time in Wales in a cottage with some friends. There were no modern conveniences: no mobile signal, no phone, no tv, no WiFi, no laptop. Just a stream, a swing, a lovely lush garden, stunning scenery, a few sheep and the luxury of complete peace and quiet.

On our last day, I had been paddling in the stream, toying with the idea of having a swim. This was my last chance, yet I was reluctant. I kept telling myself that paddling was fine, was enough.

I went inside to dry off and something inside me snapped back. I couldn't shake off a feeling of disappointment in my gut. I knew that if I didn't do it now, I would miss my chance. Suddenly all my lovely logical reasons for not swimming were just not enough. The scales tipped in favour of going in.

So I dashed up to my room, put on my swimming cossie and dashed out again (before I changed my mind).

My friends were just coming in, having paddled like me, perhaps wanting to swim but not having the courage or needing some encouragement.

As I launched myself down the grassy bank, I shouted "turn around, we are going in"....

I kept up my momentum, throwing down my towel and wading in as fast as the current and pebbles would let me until I just sank down, drenching myself from head to frozen toes.

As I lept into the water, I gave the reason for my madness - a phrase I knew: "they say you should do one thing every day that scares you. This is mine....(yeee hah)!!!"

We let the water flow over our bodies, as our goose bumps rose in miniature peaks over our skin. We splashed and played like children. We all laughed and screamed at the cold. It shook us to our bones. And it was utterly magical - a sensation I can still feel on my skin as I smile in remembrance.

What things are there in your life that you are putting off?
What are you waiting until the right time to do?
What are you going to do when you are (fit, slim, old, rich) enough?

Why are you really not doing it already?

Go on - live a little.
In fact - live a lot.

You can live a life full of reasons and excuses (like nearly everyone else), or you can have a life full of life and stories and magical experiences.

Which would you like?

Know and Use Your Strengths

I have been putting alot of time and effort into swimming of late, as I am due to swim in Lake Windermere as part of the Great North Swim in a few weekends, so have been pretty motivated to make sure I do not have to be rescued.....

My problem is that I tend to forget how many lengths I have swum - I count them all up and then miss count or get unsure about half way through. So usually I just swim a few more for good measure at the end.

I am trying to remember the numbers by just saying them to myself in my head.
Then I had an ah-ha moment as I swum effortlessly along. I know that I learn most through visual means and kinaesthetic means rather than listening. My ears are not my strongest learning mechanism - my eyes and movement are.

I have known this for years, which is why I take notes in meetings, whereas those with a strong auditory sense can just listen and learn without any notes at all.

So instead of just saying the number of lengths in my head and listening, I start creating a huge bubble number in my mind at the same time. And remembering what length I am on starts to feel much easier - so I can spend more time concentrating on my technique and less on whether I am on 33 or 35 lengths.

Do you know your preferred learning or communication sense? If not, then search on-line under VAK or VARK (standing for visual- auditory - read/write and kinaesthetic) and find out. You may be amazed at what you learn.

So I guess I have learnt something too - that if I am strong visually, I need to make sure that I use visual methods wherever possible to help me learn and remember information.

What do you have problems remembering?
How can you use your strongest sense to help you remember?