You see, I am scared of swimming pools. I nearly drowned in one when I was in high school. Nobody knew then. To enjoy the company of friends who go swimming, and if only to enjoy the water too, I would be content to be a gutter girl. Like Nicole and Yuan and even Faith were. But while these kids soon graduated to being able to at least float at our compound swimming pool, I remained making tampisaw in the shallower end of the pool.
Last night, my Bebe, who may have been pitying me for I seem to be the only one in the compound who can't venture into the deeper end of the pool without sticking to the gutter, was convincing me to try it. He of course said he won't let me drown (so sweet) but I told him I was not ready yet. Although I of course did not know what it would take to get me to be ready.
In any case, I followed my Bebe's lead of playing with the spaghettis. And was pleasantly surprised that I can float quite steadily with its help. Needless to say, I learned how to tread in the water and float on my back. I got to the point of floating even into the middle of the pool, all by myself with the plastic tubes.
It was indeed a lot of fun for me even as I discovered and realized quite a few insights into life itself.
Learning to float is such an allegory for learning to live. If you try to go through life in a calm and relaxed manner, and if you try to avoid being in a panicky mode, then you might be able to float and not sink.
