In The Swim

We are thrust into the world, usually screaming our lungs out and gasping for air.
When we deal with the daily tasks and events in our life, we feel like we've been thrown into a giant pool and someone forgot to teach us how to swim.  
So we do the best we can to keep afloat.
We dog-paddle, thrash wildly sometimes, calmly float or wade towards the shallower part of the pool.   If we're lucky, we're thrown a life-preserver or some flotation device that keeps us from totally drowning - er, like a fish out of water.  
Sink or swim, it seems - applies not just to swimming, but to life in general.
Sure, it can be tiring, but I hear that if you just relax and let go, you might actually float! (okay, I've never really managed to do this, because I panic and start to sink)
Most times, I'm clutching at the sides of the pool, with my head just safely above the waterline - not very exciting, really. I've also tried sitting by the side of the pool with just my feet dangling in the water.  BUT - the fun in swimming is...actually swimming.
So - throwing caution to the wind, jump in and start with the freestyle!  
A cannonball jump into the water is also quite exhilarating, just make sure you choose to go off the deep end (which is where I usually go - HAHAHAHAHAHA, er, sorry, private joke I have with the voices in my head)
It being a typically bright, sunny afternoon, my thoughts turn to cooling off in the pool - too bad I think it isn't open at the moment, so I'll just have to settle for 'thinking' of swimming.
Let's not forget that I can't really be under the sun. (Okay, no side-comments about me being a creature of the night and stalking people for blood - I prefer Pepsi, thank you!)
Back to swimming.
For people who don't know how to, I suppose the idea of jumping into the water without any preparation or proper instruction can be rather scary - but - it's a whole lot like being born.  We are thrust into the world not knowing exactly how things are going to go or how we are supposed to do certain things, but we deal with it - we make choices as we go along and we LIVE. (or at least that is the idea)
I don't want to just sit at the side of the pool and watch while everyone else is having fun.  If I get bored with watching life pass me by and I decide not to do anything about it, then that would be my fault, now wouldn't it?
It's really just a matter of making up my mind to (okay, plug for Nike) JUST DO IT.
There are never any guarantees that I won't panic and nearly drown myself, but there has to be trust that somehow, I'll survive.  Whether it is out of sheer willpower and stamina, or because there are people around me who will care enough to fish me out, or throw me a life-preserver.  Shout out to my friends and family - they have always been there for me during times when I feel that I'm drowning and they manage to keep me afloat long enough to realize that even within an inch of my life left, things can only get better.
Sure, there are days when I feel like I didn't ask to be thrown into the pool, yes, there are times I wish there wasn't a damned pool at all, but since it's here, and I'm in it - there seems to be just one thing left for me to do:
Keep Swimming.
Mabuhay!