#Inspireoneperson

I’ll come back to the title at the end..... so on a dreary Sunday why am I writing this?

For those who know me well, you will understand my fear of water and not being able to swim, yes I know, a grown adult who can’t do something that comes natural to 98% of people.

It started years ago, when I was around 4/5 years old and was on a family holiday at Butlins and ended up being pushed in the deep end of the swimming pool by a complete stranger.... even at that early stage I had not had any experience of swimming/water as both parents were non swimmers and brothers and sisters were a lot older and already left home for university etc.. So, here I was, in the pool just basically panicking and sinking.... so I tried to drink my way out of the situation (perhaps why I like a drink now)... anyway that failed, good job there was an alert stranger by the pool who rescued me... sounds exciting but not when your on the receiving end (but very thankful) I now have a complete fear of water (I could panic in a shower ) this was compounded at school as we had an outdoor pool and the non swimmers (all 3 of us) in the shallow end with polystyrene floats and trendy arm bands.... well you can imagine the piss taking that took place, which never helped the situation.

We now enter adulthood, and many a holiday looms, and the many excuses not to do anything that meant water! Not many pool dips No scuba diving No donut adventures on the back of a boat No skiing No Sail boarding etc etc

Now that hurts, as I have always been keen on sports and wanting to do things to the best of my ability..... but here I was making lame excuse not to do these, and to make things worse watch everyone else do them and come back full of excitement and adrenalin.... pleased for them but sad inside!

One day you wake up and start reflecting, the only person who could change this was....ME!

I found a private instructor in the guise of Lucy Ryan who owns Grange Farm Swim School in Emneth... who has been competitively winning medals for years... and was highly recommended. Must admit the one thing I was interested in was how good where her life saving skills

We set the first lesson for the 19th Sept 2018..... a date I absolutely dreaded in every sense of the word...... to the point I sat in the car park and struggled to get out of the car... wanting my phone to ring, for any excuse not to go in... I got into the reception area and just stood there, nervous, bewildered, overcome, feeling sick, to the point I nearly left..... but somehow had to find the courage to take the next step... getting changed into swim wear (no budgie smugglers I add, I had done my homework ) was strange, really strange.... entered into the swimming area and met with Lucy for the first time.... basically it was chatting and building a confidence and to me and more importantly a trust bond, I still wanted to run back to the car, but the calm, confident professional nature of Luch prevented this.

The weeks/months unfolded and some added reassurance from Nicola (thank you) and personally breaking down so many barriers, I’m please to say after 34 lessons I finally achieve something in September 2020 that I never ever thought I would/could - 2 swimming certificates and even enjoyed the challenge!!

I will be forever indebted to Lucy for the patience and utmost professionalism throughout.... it really is a life changing moment thank you.

Ok, back to to the title of this post... I’m not putting this for a world record of likes or well done comments, I have achieved what I wanted too and overcome a huge fear that was actually making me unhappy/sad....

If I have inspired one person, just one, to do something to over come a fear or something they have been putting off then this would be an even better outcome....

You’ve got this

Mark