I have two drugs of choice—coffee and swimming.
I love them and they compliment each other. Caffeine jump starts me in the morning and water calms my Piscean soul. It is there, in the water, that I am one with my own thoughts, my breath and my creativity. So, after three cups of Starbucks French Roast coffee, there I was this morning, swimming, my mind transported; my body thanking me with every stroke. Getting into a rhythm of breath and stroke. Stoke, stroke, stroke, breath, stroke, stroke, stroke, breath, stroke, stroke…BAM!!
My bliss ended abruptly.
I went head on into a woman who was swimming directly for me in my lane. We both stopped swimming, stood up and looked at each other, stunned. She had entered the lane which another swimmer and I had split. Where did this woman come from? Why didn’t she signal me she was coming into the lane? She could have let me know and I would have happily proceeded to circling laps.
If you’re a swimmer you know that you should always connect eyes or get a signal from the other swimmers in the lane before joining in because lap swimmers go into a zone, or a state of flow, as Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi refers to it in his book, Flow.
I had actually noticed this person in the locker room earlier and she was clearly on a mission. I guess her mission was to get into the pool. She was pretty rude, but I went back to swimming my laps, circling to accommodate this third person in the lane.
I swam thinking about this for a while, but eventually that little voice in my head seemed directed at me, asking, “Margaret, what was your part in this?” Again I heard, “How you do anything is how you do everything.” I tried to dismiss it, but that sentence kept coming back to me. Of course, the collision with that swimmer wasn’t my fault—was it?
Replaying the incident I realized I was deep in thought, thinking there was only one other swimmer in the lane, transported by my breathing, letting my mind go and looking down, not ahead. As I recalled where my mind was, I realized, I often do other things this way, too. I get in a zone, head down, caught up in whatever I’m doing and forget about what else is going on around me.
If you’re a swimmer you know that you should always connect eyes or get a signal from the other swimmers in the lane before joining in because lap swimmers go into a zone, or a state of flow, as Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi refers to it in his book, Flow.
I had actually noticed this person in the locker room earlier and she was clearly on a mission. I guess her mission was to get into the pool. She was pretty rude, but I went back to swimming my laps, circling to accommodate this third person in the lane.
This woman was clearly self absorbed.
It made me think, if she’s like this at the pool, where else does she exhibit this behavior and how does that impact her life and those around her? As if a voice was replying to my thoughts, I heard “How you do anything is how you do everything.”I swam thinking about this for a while, but eventually that little voice in my head seemed directed at me, asking, “Margaret, what was your part in this?” Again I heard, “How you do anything is how you do everything.” I tried to dismiss it, but that sentence kept coming back to me. Of course, the collision with that swimmer wasn’t my fault—was it?
Replaying the incident I realized I was deep in thought, thinking there was only one other swimmer in the lane, transported by my breathing, letting my mind go and looking down, not ahead. As I recalled where my mind was, I realized, I often do other things this way, too. I get in a zone, head down, caught up in whatever I’m doing and forget about what else is going on around me.
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