Being a Grown Up is Hard.

Life long habits are hard to overcome. I’ve never had to exercise a whole lot of discipline because what I wanted and needed to do always came so easily. As a kid, school was so natural. I did my homework in front of the TV. My parents didn’t demand a whole lot in terms of chores, so I never learned how to plan out my schedule. Further, I had a bunch of free time because I didn’t have many responsibilities. I never had to prioritize. These things have made my adult life one great challenge.

For a long time, I longed for the freedom of my childhood. I kept wishing to catch up on one last mountain of chores. Foolishly, I thought, that getting past the bump, would take me to that easy feeling again. However, whether I tamed that mountain of responsibilities or not, it wasn’t long before another burden came my way. Now, I’ve finally realized that I need to figure out how to prioritize all those things that come my way. Some, I’ll need to take care of immediately. Others will need to be added in after more pressing matters. There will be other things which will need to be ignored.

It’s hard to ignore those other things, though. Usually, those other things are interesting. Finding time to do those interesting things, while still meeting the demands of those things that must be done, will be the toughest part. Well, I can’t give them up entirely! These are things like hobbies, or things that help me grow as a person. However, I must meet the most important demands of my work and my personal relationships. I need to work, because I have bills. I need to maintain relationships, because it’s a need we all have. I also long to spend time with myself: to read, to learn, and to push my body.

I guess, reluctantly, the thing I must give up is TV. I’ve spent so much of my life in front of the tube, that it’s second nature. It’s easy to go to when I’m tired. But, I need to push myself sometimes. Instead of TV, I might need to do laundry, or pack my lunch, or clean out my car.

The first step is to realize you have a problem, they say. Now, the hard part, figuring out a strategy to get past the problem…

How to Breathe while Swimming.

The results for my online search for ‘how to swim’ were less than satisfactory. They detailed some of the mechanics of swimming. But, they failed to address the major concerns of a new swimmer. What I found yielded only the results of those that have swam so long, they have forgotten the fears of a new swimmer. Here is what I wish my search had told me:

1)      Wear goggles!

2)      Focus on balancing in the water.

a.       With each stroke, your body rotates around the axis of your spine

b.      Practice making long rhythmic strokes.

c.       Keep your head in the water

If you do the above, breathing will come easily. For me figuring out how to breathe without getting a lung full of water was my biggest concern. This problem took care of itself when I focused on the above. Because:

1)      Wearing goggles the first time was amazing. I could open my eyes underwater and see where I was going. Being able to see freed me of some of my fears of having my face underwater.

2)      In my research, I’ve found that swimming is balancing on the water. It’s important to dedicate the first few visits to the pool to figuring out how your body balances in the water. Luckily, my body fat is well distributed throughout my body. That makes it easier for me to float without much effort. Others aren’t so lucky.  The internet and swimming instruction DVDs devote some time to floating, and they are well worth looking for.

a.       Once I figured out how my body floats in the water, I was able to move through the water rotating my hips and shoulders along the axis of my spine with each stroke. This motion will make it easier to breath. It’s not just your head and neck that move when you get air. I didn’t realize this. I thought my belly would always be parallel to the bottom of the pool. This position, however, made it quite difficult for me to get air.

b.      In addition to the side to side body rotation, having a long stroke makes it easier when it comes time to breathe. With a long stroke, you body will shift a bit. It will balance in the direction of the outstretched arm and give your other side the lift necessary to get your gulp of air.

c.       Always keep the top of your head pointed in the direction of travel. This causes a depression in the water, so when you turn to breathe, you will do it easily without getting water up your nose. At first I was doing it all wrong. I was lifting my head too far out of the water. Ironically, this made it more likely that I would get water in my nose. Also, it will through your balance off.

Because of the above, it is important to spend some time in the pool working on your stroke in the shallow end of the pool. When it becomes familiar territory, then it’s time to work on the breathing. Until then, just stand when you need to, or rotate on your back to get some air. If you spend some time working on the stroke, the breath will come much easier. I’m living proof of this.

How to be a Responsible Adult

You go to college to prepare for your future. You get up; You go to work; You drink barrels of coffee. You see your coworkers for more hours a day than your own family. They ask you stuff; You ask them stuff. Both of you make stuff up in response. You talk about who got kicked off yesterday on Dancing with the Stars. Then, you go to lunch. Everyday, it’s a different restaurant. When you run out of new restaurants, you brown bag it and play ping-pong during lunch. Afterward you throw in a few hours of paper shuffling that satisfies the boss enough to give you your weekly pay. It’s just enough to keep your ex-wife living in the style she’s grown accustomed and you in your studio apartment. At the end of the day you get home exhausted; fit only to drink one or two beers in front of the friend that’s stuck around through thick and thin, TV. You watch Biggest Loser and take comfort that at least you’re not that fat. Finally, you go to bed. The next morning you get up and do it all again.