Swimming....Breathing...Relaxing

We took the kids swimming on Labor Day at a local indoor, community pool. We all had a great time. The pool is really nice. They have a lazy river, a large circular slide and several different structures that shoot water in all kinds of directions. There is something for everybody there, and when it was time, it was a real challenge to get the kids out of the water so we could head home.

I love how water makes people have very little body weight. I was able to carry three children down the lazy river with very little effort. I had one on my back, and the other two were stretched out in a 'Superman' flying position, holding on to my arms that were perpendicular to my body. The kids thought I was the strongest man in the world, and I was nearly convinced that I was.

A couple of hours after swimming, hot water leaked out of my ear. All of a sudden, I was hearing better. I didn't even know I was hearing badly. It was just an added bonus to my day. I was thinking, "Gee, I'm not complaining, it's good, everything is good," and all of a sudden, "even better." You gotta love that!

Water has a calming effect. Perhaps this is why I love the ocean so much. Apparently, you can "breathe" your problems out across the ocean.

Standing on the shore of the Great Salt Lake doesn't really have the same effect. I keep trying this, but in the middle of breathing out, I always think, "someone is going to be breathing this in. These problems have to end up somewhere."

I envision some poor guy on the opposite shore, trying to relax, and suddenly he has my problems. He doesn't need that. He's walking around going, "gee, I have to help Nathan clean his room, but I don't even know who Nathan is."

My next thought is, "forget about that--what about his problems? I don't want them washing back to me." We could each potentially be walking around with problems neither of us are prepared to handle. Suddenly, this whole "breathing and relaxing" thing is not as simple as it is cracked up to be.