Don’t get your toes wet – dive in.

by ~jenniferlynn on June 2, 2014

in inspiration

There is no doubt that I love Crossfit.

I love the feeling of my hands gripped around a barbell or wrapped around a pull-up rig or rings. I love flipping upside down into a handstand, springing onto a 30″ plyo-box, and have a love/hate relationship when my hands are grasped around that leather-bound wall-ball. I love the feeling of deadlifting much more than I weight or throwing more than 100# overhead.

Despite being extremely uncomfortable at times, Crossfit makes me comfortable with the uncomfortable.

Last year, I channeled my Crossfit mindset to train for a half-marathon, the scariest things I had ever done to date. When I registered for the race, I could hardly run a mile without stopping, so the thought of training for, and finishing, such a race seemed impossible. It was painful, physically, mentally, and emotionally, but I persevered (and vowed to complete it again this year in order to have a second chance at a more positive training experience.). Through literal sweat and tears, I do not regret a thing about undertaking what seemed like an impossible task.

How often do we all step outside of our comfort zone?

How often do you do that thing that scares the daylights out of you?

There is a great quote by Robert Schueller, “What great thing would you attempt if you knew you could not fail?”

While it may seem trivial to some, I signed up for my first swimming lesson this week. Yup, nearly 32 years old and I have a fear of any depth of water above my head and quite anxiety about anything above my neck being submerged.

~

To give a little bit of history of the apprehension, I think it stems partially from when I was about 4 years old and my dad used to use us kids as playthings, tossing us up in the air at the pool and catching us right before we would go under. Except one time, my scrawny little body slipped out from his hands and down I went. I was more than fine and probably was only submerged for about two seconds, but it was enough to put the irrational fear in me for years later. To be honest, there were few things that didn’t scare me as a child, many of which still present in some way today.

Fast-forward to high school, where taking a Pool class was a requirement to graduate. Yet somehow, a scheduling conflict with the opportunity to take an Advanced Placement English class paired with a doctor’s note for a mysterious “chlorine allergy” trumped the requisite.

A few years ago, some friends and I were on a boat (another anxiety-inducing activity) and they took it out to some middle-of-nowhere place and dropped the anchor, after which everyone proceeded to dive in and tread water. I opted to remain seated on the boat, knowing well there was no way I was going to put my life at risk jumping into who-knows-how-deep water.

About two years ago, I conquered a major fear of the boat, and took a more venturous risk and went parasailing. A surreal feeling unlike anything I can describe, equally terrifying and liberating, I felt an anxiety release.

parasailing

Do you know how freeing it is to no longer fear something that once seemed so terrifying?

Last year, I did Warrior Dash, and though hesitant, scaled the tall obstacles and jumped over fire and climbed under and through things that caused some mild claustrophobic panic. But once I waded through the 5ft of water at one obstacle onto the dock in the middle, the lifeguards on the other side were relaying that the depth of the water to get to the shoreline no more than 20 feet away was 10ft deep. The adolescent guard must have sensed my panic as he told me I can hold onto the rope to get me across to the other side.

So with a Tough Mudder scheduled for August, a longer distance than any race I have ever run, with more extreme and dangerous obstacles than I ever have faced, I need to approach the water obstacles as I approached my half marathon, much less thinking and more doing.

(To put into perspective how ill-prepared I am for this race, I failed at doing a recent “Coldwater challenge“, in which you need to submerge yourself underwater if publicly called out. I tried. And my body and lungs said no.)

~

So, after 31 years of not being able to do anything more than a doggie paddle to save my life, I am starting with a swimming lesson.

I think everyone should do something similar. Do something that you haven’t done before or something that you have been scared to try. This isn’t about swimming; this is about pushing yourself well outside of your comfort zone and doing something that is going to make you a better version of you. How much more can you grow if you put your fears aside and strive for so much more, taking a risk for what you want?

Put on a swimsuit and put your toes in the water.

Step outside your comfort zone.

Attend your first Crossfit class.

Take a rest day. And let your body rest.

Ask the girl out.

End the dead-end relationship.

Sign up for the competition.

Break from the routine.

Start that new business.

Take a trip to somewhere new.

Listen to your gut, not someone else’s.

Eat something that it outside your “diet.”

Enroll for the next semester.

Register for the long-distance race.

Apply for the new job you may not feel qualified for.

Pursue your passion.

Take a leap of faith.

Dive in head first.

Don't get your toes wet. Dive in.  Do that thing that you thought you would be scared to do.  For more inspiration, Crossfit, and other health and fitness related posts, check out @winetoweights at www.winetoweightlifting.com.

Shilpa June 2, 2014 at 5:45 pm

Good for you for jumping into the water! And I fully agree – doing something scary or challenging or just flat out new is always a good endeavor. I just went back to school this year, and am amazed at how many people just get into a groove and stay there. My younger classmates will say, “I hope I’m in as good of shape as you are when I’m your age. But I’ll probably just be lazy” and students older than me will say, “Wow, that’s so impressive.” And to me, it’s not impressive (although I’ll take any compliments I get!). It’s just a thing to do. Continuing to try new things, learning new things even helps us age better, helps keep our minds sharp as we get older. And, I made the transition from the don’t-drown-dogpaddle camp to actual swimmer this year, too! Haven’t taken any formal lessons, but I started swimming in January and am loving it – and even signed up for a sprint triathlon in July! Here’s to many more years of trying new things, be they physical, mental, emotional, spiritual…

Brittany V
Twitter: detroithealthy
June 3, 2014 at 9:54 am

Ms Jennifer,

Thank you for this post! It’s exactly how I’m feeling with trying my first CF class yesterday! I smiled like an idiot reading this whole post.. Congrats on diving in! 🙂

B
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~jenniferlynn June 3, 2014 at 10:16 am

Aww yay! I hope you blog about it!!

Heather Brown June 3, 2014 at 11:17 am

I too have signed up to do my First ever Tough Mudder race in August! The obstacles intimidate me, but thought about the challenge of pushing myself outside of my comfort zone and seeing what I can really do!
Also hoping my crossfit training will come in handy:)

~jenniferlynn June 3, 2014 at 11:20 am

Super exciting!! Where are you doing it? I’m TERRIFIED!

Melissa June 3, 2014 at 11:21 am

I really liked this post! Good luck with the swimming lesson. you got this.
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~jenniferlynn June 3, 2014 at 11:24 am

Thanks for reading!! 🙂

Mary
Twitter: inmyheadspace
June 3, 2014 at 1:04 pm

I can’t swim either. I panic in any water over my head. My first time snorkeling, I had a panic attic just putting my face down in the water. Dan had to carry me to shore. The water was knee deep. The 2nd time I had the chance to do this was in Aruba. I sat it out and Dan took pictures so I can see that he saw. The last time we were in Hawaii. I had flippers on and a life vest and still had to hold on to Dan for safety. I was “ok” until I got water in the snorkel. Then I panicked and used him like a flotation device forgetting I had the vest on. He was thrilled by that btw~ LOL So yeah, swim lessons… I really should do that.
I DID step out of my comfort zone recently by volunteering to be the treasurer for our local division of Crop Walk in October. Me… the person who does not like to deal with the lunch order at work because other people’s money is involved! But I took a leap of faith. I have anxiety about it but I am assured it is really easy.

Chris June 3, 2014 at 1:55 pm

From someone that pretty much has gills for spending a ton of his life in the water, I definitely appreciate this post. And not only from the swimming side, but the overall message. Fear cripples us and holds us back so often in life. I know it does me. Failure doesn’t have to be a bad thing. Failure can be and actually is a good thing. I failed Fran after all, and it was one of the best things that every happened to me!

Keep pushing beyond your comfort zone. Perhaps someday we will go swimming. Good post.
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Francine
Twitter: Flash_Fran
June 3, 2014 at 8:53 pm

Great post! I am proud of you for diving in. I have decided today to dive in. There is something that I have been wanting to do and today was the day I decided to act. To look fear in the face and say “screw you” I am doing this. It is a dream. I had to stop saying to myself “What if I fail?” and realize there is a possibility that I will not. I have tried many things and failed. Why am I so afraid now? This post was the boost and encouragement I need to know that I am making the right decision and taking a step in the right direction towards happiness. “Expose yourself to your deepest fear; after that, fear has no power, and the fear of freedom shrinks and vanishes. You are free.” – Jim Morrison. I want to be free. Dive in and find your freedom! Again, I LOVE THIS POST!!

Martha June 4, 2014 at 8:40 pm

Yay for you!! I’m so glad you’re getting your toes wet and trying something scary.
I have one little bit of good? news for you though…
Tough Mudder Pittsburgh is only 10.5 miles. So I know you can cover the distance 🙂
I know you can do it all! I’m proud of you!
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Ree June 7, 2014 at 10:19 am

Great post! Congrats on pushing through your fears. I’m a huge believer in going outside of my comfort zone, and water is one of them for me as well. I can swim just fine, but it’s jumping off anything (dock, boat) into the water that scares the heck out of me. I finally did it last year by jumping off a very large/high catamaran into the ocean. It was seeing the 3 year olds do it that may me go for it 😉 While I can’t say I would do it again, I’m glad I checked it off my list. Good luck with your swimming!
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karla @ finding my fit June 13, 2014 at 12:59 pm

LOVE LOVE LOVE this post. there are so many endeavors I want to conquer but afraid of where to start. I wanted 2015 to be the year of my first CF competition but I’m so far removed from that yet.. Im still going to keep diving in and attempting to improve!!

~jenniferlynn June 13, 2014 at 1:02 pm

Thanks so much, Karli! Ohh!! TOTALLY do a competition!! I did one only about 4-5 months in! http://www.winetoweightlifting.com/2013/04/30/raising-the-bar-crossfit-compeition/

110% encourage you to sign up for the fall!!!! They usually have some that are geared towards more scaled options or beginners. HIGHLY recommend!!

Nicole
Twitter: mast2mar
June 15, 2014 at 12:48 pm

Great job on working to conquer a fear and taking swim lessons! Never too late to learn, you never know when it might save your life or when you might save someone else 🙂 Plus now you can start doing Triathlons like me! (only kidding, but if you do I totally support it!).
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