Interesting how the mind works and almost a case of retraining the mind to think in terms of standing as I has been used to sitting for so long.; I can relate my pool experience to my Journey with God as I have gone through this very challenging Journey.; when we do take that step of faith with Him; He never lets us down and His guiding hand will help and teach us how to navigate our way through life’s often bumpy road and He totally understands our weaknesses and struggles and He has supplied all the resources we will ever need in His Word to live as It says in the book of Romans; "Rejoice when you run into troubles and trials; for we know they are good for us; for they help us to trust Him more.; "When I was in the pool and taking a step away from the wall; it reminded me of Peter in the Bible who was in the boat and Jesus came walking to him on the water and Peter called out and asked if he could walk on the water to Jesus and Jesus said coke and Peter stepped out of the boat and started walking to Jesus and he began to sink and he called out to Jesus and said Save me and immediately Jesus reached out His hand and saved him; Oh ye of little faith Jesus said; totally need to keep that trust of ours and focus on the Master and with Him anything is possible if we only believe.
I was back in the pool again on Thursday after quite a break from it.
My instructor had me standing up against a wall with my back to it and I was standing there supporting myself with no aids at all. She then had me falling forwards into the water and backwards as well, then taking my first step out into the water with nothing to hang onto. It is very much mind over matter and I have been so used to hanging onto something for support when I take a step and I had to really talk to myself and say, You can do it Phil and totally trust my instructor that she would be there to catch me when I do fall.
As I work more and more in the pool, my confidence is growing and my willingness to have a go at more challenging things, I still find it very challenging being on my front and doing breaststroke and breathing with my mouth and nose going under the surface of the water. I used to feel very claustrophobic in the pool, as I am totally deaf in the pool with no hearing aid on and obviously totally blind. Not knowing where the edge of the pool is and not having the full use of my legs was at times a little scary to say the least.
As I have learned to work with my instructor, my confidence has grown and trust has been developed as well. My body is heaps stronger than it ever used to be, but it is important for me to now learn to work with both my mind and body to learn to not rely upon aids to support me all the time and allow my mind to allow my muscle to function as they should do.
Kind regards,
Phil Thorn
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