Sunday 09th May 2021....The day I finally did it!
As a child I spent my Summer Holidays in a few different family beach chalets, between daylight hours they were like a mini home, a den of fun, if the sun shone, we were in the sea, swimming, paddling, shrimping..asking fisherman for spare dabs for the cat (my nan never had a cat, they were for tea!)
If it rained, we shut one chalet door, got the board out and had Table Tennis tournaments with a flask of tea and the magical ice cream tub of biscuits at interval times (Iced Shorties and Shortbreads being the choice selection!) I even remember building a Snow Man one winter on the stones, it's fair to say that my nan and grandad got their money's worth from the rent that they paid to the council. These days sadly you need a second mortgage to enjoy one, but at least we have the beautiful beach!
They were great days, something I'm forever grateful for, even now when I see and smell the sea I'm taken back to a sunlounger with the ends folded up, a towel over the top....that was my camp, where dreams were thought of, card game tactics considered or just a rest was had, from the 10 plus trips into the sea that day.
Those 10 trips were my swimming lessons! These days my kids have swimming lessons, Aimee is old enough now to go to the beach with friends, the knowledge that she can swim, helps me not to worry quite as much and to give her that freedom. My lessons were slightly less formal....in you go...and swim!!! But again I'm happy for those memories!
So moving back to present day.....I've watched others try Sea Swimming throughout lockdowns, at first I thought...crazy people! Then a little seed of a thought began, just in the background of my mind, I'm beginning to realise this background is a dangerzone...because once that thought makes it that far into my mind....somehow, someway, I'm going to put it into action!
As The Smile Coach I motivationally coach lovely people to achieve their goals, but we all have those skills....the desire for that guidance is a way of coaching yourself to become accountable for your actions. No coaching will work until you are in the driving seat, I'm just the co-pilot and that can help the direction, but the desire is yours.
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| Thanks @shoeshuffle! |
For me that thought began, then I found myself buying and stashing the sea shoes (thank you Shoe Shuffle for delivery during lockdown 1), I thought about the hat that I've read that I would need. Next I've mentioned it to a few friends, and then just kept thinking about it....a chance meeting with a beautiful friend on a bike, whilst I was out for a run, led to a loose plan to meet up and do it! As all mums know sometimes what you want to do and what is needed in life puts your plans lower down the list, so that plan has taken a little time to put into place until today!
So this morning, I got up, chucked the 'cossie on (no wetsuits here!), left the house as the rain started and walked down the road to meet another potentially mad friend, to walk down to the beach, on the way some fisherman happily told us how cold it was!
Now this mad friend, is another Emma, it's in the name! And one of those friends that I always find myself doing something crazy with! Double Emma's = Double Trouble! We all need an Emma in our lives!
We got to the beach, met some more beautiful friends, who were definitely more appropriately dressed than me! Sat on the beach, stripped off and kept telling myself " mind over matter", "mind over matter". Walked down to the edge, started to gentle step in.......and thought "oh sod it just get in!"
Turn's out, it was the best decision that I've made today, What a feeling! What a rush....and not as cold as expected! Although the cold did hit my ankles about 5 mins in....but Nan was in my head again, "tread water!" I could hear her saying..."just wet your shoulders" was another.
We may have screamed and shouted a little, some waves were big, so put my arms up to steady myself, but realised that could be a bad idea, as the people watching those crazy ladies in the sea, might think that I needed help!
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| Crazy Emma's! |
I decided to try an actual swim, that was a weird sensation, cold and hot all at the same time as my arms tried to swim, I gave up on that, just happy to still be in the water.
Then I thought I just need a picture of this time, I love to have the memories....but if I get out, will I get back in again? I decided to see what happened, got out, grabbed my phone, took a few of the pics that you see here....then another trip out to return the phone to my pile of belongings.
I returned to the sea for the last time, we'd defied all these plans that I'd read, to only do a minute or so at first, and I had got in and out too...Emma's never stick to a plan!
Back on the beach it felt like such an achievement, yet the biggest challenge was yet to come....getting changed on the beach under a microfibre poncho (I haven't graduated to Dry Robe status yet! Oh and the hat, this is where the hat in my bag came into it's own, I put it on and instantly warmed up, whilst completing what felt like an OCR race under the poncho in getting changed!
Another group came down and told us how well we'd done staying in for 20 minutes, it had just felt so good to be in there.....if you've been thinking about it.....in the words of Nike...just do it! I will definitely be doing it again, I'm glad Summer is coming, but I hope to carry on beyond Summer and earn my full Sea Swimming stripes by this time next year. Just as well I have bonkers friends on the same level....and if this blog resonates with you, get in touch, lets meet up, come join our crazy!
I have absolutely loved this new experience, revived experience, depending on how you look at it, but yet again it comes down to enjoying the simple things in life, all those things that are around us, all those people that are around us and most importantly finding the motivation to achieve our personal goals.
Thank You for reading this blog, get in touch to join the craziness or maybe for a coaching or Reiki Session!
Lots of love
Emma
The Smile Coach
@thesmilecoachforyou
www.thesmilecoachforyou.co.uk
