The Pivot

The path between the front door of the community in which C and I live and the elevator that takes us to our sixth-floor apartment passes by several large floor-to-ceiling windows that overlook a swimming pool embedded in the floor below. The first time I made that trek I had two thoughts: 1) What a beautiful pool! and 2) I’ll NEVER place my body in that water!

To understand my second response you need to know that as a child I absolutely refused to learn to swim even though my mom enrolled me and actually took me to lessons and my dad in his own patient way tried to teach me himself.

I’m not sure I know the source of my resolute reluctance. I playfully accused my mom of turning cartwheels while I floated in the amniotic fluid of her womb. More likely, it was the large wave that knocked me off a raft and filled my lungs with water in the Corpus Christi surf. I simply don’t know, but my fear of water deeper than I am tall prevailed over any rationale for the lifetime benefits of knowing how to swim. My tenacity had the final say.

The repeated stories of delight of my neighbors who engage in pool aerobics here in this community began to work on me, however…and on my excuses.

1. I might drown if I enter a body of water that is over my head.
   Myth buster: The deep end of this pool measures 5’2” deep, chin level for me. No nose immersion in that pool.
2. I can’t stand the shock and feel of cold water.
   Myth buster: The water temperature is kept at 88-90 degrees and the room temp that houses the pool must be close to the same.
3. I don’t have time to deal with wet hair.
   Myth buster: No head dunking required.
4. I don’t own a swimsuit, and I’m not going shopping for one.
   Myth buster: Lands’ End/LL Bean

Bottom line: I pivoted…from my fear-based certainty to tentative yet supple exploration, from iron-clad assumptions to new possibilities. As a result, I’ve discovered new activity that is delightfully life-giving— the therapeutic benefits of warm-water exercise.

As a child, I sang with gusto a hymn that includes this phrase— “new occasions teach new duties.” I wonder: What are the new duties being required of me by the new occasions I’m experiencing both in this chapter of my life as well as the political realities in the United States?

What are the pivots I must make so that I contribute life-giving, loving energy to my own life as well as the lives of all people, our nation, and our planet?

Simple Gifts
“Tis the gift to be simple, ’tis the gift to be free,
’Tis the gift to come down where I ought to be;
And when we find ourselves in the place just right,
’Twill be in the valley of love and delight.
When true simplicity is gained,
To bow and to bend we shan’t be ashamed;
To turn, turn will be my delight,
Till by turning, turning we come down right.