Forrest Gump's mama used to tell him, "Stupid is as stupid does," and with good reason. Mama was doing all she could to prepare her son for the real world with all of its pain and suffering. My mama never said those exact words to me, but today would have been a good day for her to tell me, "Girl if you had a brain , you'd be harmful." Not a nice saying, but an appropriate one.
Today, I followed through on a harebrained idea; one that could have cost me my life or possibly a limb or two. Today, I decided to swim from my dock to the other side of the lake and back without the aid of a life vest, noodle or even goggles. And there were jet skis and boats whizzing by as I struggled just to stay afloat. I quickly developed a headache after water hit my eardrums. I had trouble breathing while doing the crawl stroke because hair fell on my face every time I needed to come up for air. Had I worn goggles or a swim cap I might have avoided this pitfall.
It took me forever just to reach the buoy for our cove. I realize that I could have given up and turned back to home but my stupid, stupid pride wouldn't let me. Turning back in my oxygen-deprived brain equaled Failure of the worst kind.
You see, I'm a fish or at least I think I'm a fish. I've been swimming all my life and I enjoyed swimming many laps when we had a family swimming pool. It seemed like I could go forever without tiring. Yes, today my mother would have said, "If you had a brain, you'd be harmful." Harmful to myself that is.
My muscles will tell the real story tomorrow am. And if I'm not too terribly sore, I may practice swimming out to the buoy once again and turning for home. That way I can get 30+ minutes of cardio without drowning in the process. My husband says there are other ways to get cardio without risking life and limb. Stupid is as stupid does, Forrest.
1 comment:
I will say I wish I was as "stupid" as you in that I would never have the guts to even swim half of what you did. So, congrats to you!
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