I do love the Olympics! I always have. Gymnastics was the best! My dad built me a balance beam in the backyard and I practiced lots! I had friends come over and I “gave lessons” to the little girls down the street. During the Olympics I remember pretending to be a gymnast in the living room and running races in the front yard - winning gold in both of course! I was a competitive kiddo!
This year while watching the Olympics, I took an interest in swimming. These athletes are AMAZING! I especially love watching the medley races- WOW! The individual medley is the one that really draws me in. Each swimmer has to perfect four different strokes in the correct order all while competing against other athletes. The Medley Relay is fun too because each athlete is specialized and perfected the stroke in which they compete. It gets intense- never boring!
While watching a gold medal race recently on my couch, I started to realize how a competitive medley swim race is so much like the 4 stages of life. Now, I will say in my research of the order of the strokes of this race, there is a slight difference in the individual medley and the relay medley. I will also say that even though we really are the “same” person our entire lives - we really aren’t. I am NOT the same girl I was when I was 16 or even 26 or 40. So in this life analogy, I am choosing to go with the swimming stroke order of the relay and use the new, fresh and strongest swimmers for each stroke to represent each new “phase” of life we each go through (I hope that makes sense).
SO, Let’s begin…
LAP 1
The Butterfly - Our Childhood/Teenage years
The Butterfly is hard! You are looking down in the water- arms come around up and around behind your head- you do a dolphin kick. It’s like doing “the Worm” (the crazy dance on the ground). When you are a kid you have the energy for all of this and have the patience to be coached and told what to do. Your body CAN physically do these movements and don’t mind - it’s fun!
LAP 2
The Breaststroke - The Working years (young/mid adult)
The Breast stroke is considered the hardest stroke because the arms and legs are moving at the same time. During the “working” years you will put your nose to the grindstone and go! Many people work, work, work and barely come up to breathe. However, when they do, there is support and people to direct them in the right direction. Just like when swimming the breaststroke and under the water, when you feel you are about to run out of air, just pop up,hear people cheering you on, take your deep breath and push on and back under - over -over - and over until this lap is finished!
LAP 3
The Backstroke - New Retired/Empty Nesters
The Backstroke seems to be the easiest when it comes to breathing and it looks like it could be a bit easier on the body, however you can’t see where you are going. Unless you have the lane barriers keeping you going the correct direction, the backstroke could take you anywhere. This time of life is where everyone aspires to reach, yet when they get there, many are hesitant and scared of the direction that it takes them. You have lots of support and people yelling for you and you can see them as well as the coach - but who do you listen to? Where do you go? What do you do?
Finally, LAP 4
The FreeStyle - The Golden Years
The Freestyle or front crawl is the oldest and most common style of swimming. When racing it is last because it is considered the fastest stroke. Most people learn this stroke first when they learn to swim. You can breathe when you want from either side. However, when swimming it casually, you don’t even have to put your head under the water. My memories of my mom swimming is her not wanting to get her hair wet and swimming freestyle across the pool with a smile on her face. I feel that once you are in this lap of your life you deserve to be “free” to do what you want and go as fast or slow as you want.
If you do look at life as a competition, a race or some big sporting event like the Olympics, don’t forget that you have people cheering you on - you have support and you have a Coach! For me, my faith is where “My COACH” lies - yours may be your family or another foundation in life. But I challenge you to enjoy it and don’t do this crazy life alone! Find your people - they are out there! Don't swim alone! Dive in and have fun!