Power of doing what you love to do…

Right from my childhood I had a fascination for water. To be in water precisely. 

But the first time I got into water, I got into deep trouble. I was in my fourth standard. While my uncle’s marriage was going on in a marriage hall, I decided to explore the temple tank that was just opposite the marriage hall. Did not know swimming then. Did not understand the muddy nature and depth of the tank. Just got in, walked a little distance and suddenly found myself struggling to come out. Some kind soul brought me out. Got beaten by my mom for my mischief. I was sternly warned not to get into water ever in my life as I my horoscope apparently predicted potential death due to water. 

But my fascination for water never disappeared. Next, I went with friends to the Marina swimming pool and dived from the diving board into the pool, about ten feet in depth. Thought that I may never come up. Again someone pushed me up and saved me. I was warned not to dive without knowing swimming, ever. I moved to the shallow end and started my first lessons in swimming. Without wearing swimming goggles, with lots of chlorine in the water, my eyes became red. Again came home, caught red handed by mom, got thrashed again and warned yet again. 

By my fascination for being in water never left me. In one of the summer holidays we had gone to a village where the canal from the Sathanur dam flowed. Every single day of the fortnight that we stayed there, I went to the canal to be in water, and learnt the first lessons in swimming from the village boys. Was elated with my experience and thrilled having learnt swimming. 

Over the next two to three decades, for a number of reasons, I could not pursue my passion for swimming. Then the opportunity came when we shifted to Gurgaon and became members of the DLF City Club. I started swimming regularly and improved my swimming skills through observation, inquiry and watching YouTube videos. While I could swim better and longer, my swimming technique was not technically correct. Finally in 2015, I enrolled myself for a personal coaching program. The coach guided me over the next ten sessions and monitored me closely. With correction in my technique, I was able to improve my speed and duration of swimming so much so that I swam many days for about two hours, covering three kms. In the month of September 2015, I swam in the famous Khuvsgul lake in Mongolia at a temperature of 2 degree centigrade along with our tour guide.

  
When I swim, I completely forget everything else and just focus on swimming and the laps. It’s really therapeutic and gives me a sense of calm. I feel a sense of completeness and well being on the days I swim. The high that I get from swimming makes me more productive at work. 

Like swimming for me, am sure that all of us have our own passion, fascination and love for doing something that would make us happy from inside. Please do pursue what you would to do and see the difference that it makes in your life. Everyday. Every minute.