ROCK THE BOAT!

Boat reflection (Photo credit: Jesper Hauge)

I can't swim well but I'm darn good at floating. I don't think I was ever supposed to be a great swimmer. My parents signed me up for swimming lessons when I was around 9, but I ended up with ringworm and the lessons ended before I was permitted back in the pool. I had taken two lessons and learned to float and paddle in some shallow water.

Then in college I was required to take swimming lessons to graduate, but the semester I was to have swimming, the pool needed repaired after the first class and still wasn't fixed nearly 6 weeks later. The University decided to make it a non -requirement for anyone scheduled for swimming that semester because it seemed ridiculous to hold up someone being able to graduate on the basis of not being able to swim. Again, the first week was doggie paddles and floating!
Sometimes I do wonder how I would fare in an emergency because I always am the one who has to know where the life preservers are. 

(Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Often we don't realize what we can or can't do well in life because we have only ever been "safe" in a routine situation. We wonder how we might do as a consultant, business owner, leader. We decide before we even try that we wouldn't be able to survive as an entrepreneur. We can't fathom what living without someone else signing a paycheck might be like or even test  the waters to see how we react. We never rock the boat so we really don't know what kind of swimmer we might be in an emergency. Maybe we assume we would need more support than we really would or be totally convinced our less than stellar skills will surely mean we'll drown. On the other hand, we might be so confident we never consider that even a great swimmer has some trouble in shark infested waters! There really is no way to know how you might perform if you don't rock the boat, tip it over and see if you float, swim, survive or drown. While it may not be a pretty picture; it most certainly is the blatant truth. You must experience the situation before you know for sure.

Considering I know I'm much better at floating than swimming, I have decided I need  to be sure I can survive in a pinch and have signed up for lessons at a local center. After all, I doubt many people in an emergency float their way to the shore and I have wondered too long how I would do when it really counts. So even if I thought I was never meant to be a swimmer, I need to know for sure it was not because I hadn't tried.

Swimming (Photo credit: MarkHaertl)

This weekend I participated in the CALLED WOMAN 2012 conference. Several people shared stories of how they learned to swim in life's less than predictable waters; some learned out of necessity, some out of choice but now they know they have what it takes to be successful even when waters are choppy and the boat tips over.

Sometimes it was messy floundering around trying to get their bearings, but I am sure they are not the least bit worried about "going under" no matter what. They know they can keep their head above water because they know what they are capable of doing when their boat tips.

Do you have something in your life you'd like to try but wonder if you would just sink or drown?

Does fear or lack of skill, resources or commitment stand in your way of finding out what you might be quite successful at? 

Do you need to rock your boat and tip it over and determine what you can do when you really have to?

ROCK YOUR BOAT...and stop wondering if you have what it takes.

UPDATE ON THE "BABY" STATUS...It's on the way. I doubt it will need to be induced. Bag is packed and waiting on "baby" to just arrive.(hopefully in less than 2 weeks)