Swimming Sideways

 

I got caught in an undertow in the 7th Grade. Our school took the 7th-12th graders on a fun outing to one of the most beautiful beaches of my childhood.

My best friend couldn't go, so I ventured out into the water alone. The water was so refreshing. I floated, looked up at the beautiful clouds and daydreamed about everything!

When it came time to swim back to shore, something caught my foot. I now understand why we need swimming buddies. I had never heard of an undertow. It was strong, pulling me out to sea fast. I paddled as hard as I could, flailing sometimes, but wasn't giving up. 

I then noticed something: The surface water was going into shore, and if I could stay on top and swim in, I knew I'd make it. 

But it wasn't so simple as the undertow was about two feet below me, so dipping just slightly into that current whisked me back out to sea.

I yelled for help, but the people behind me and the people on the beach didn't respond. All I wanted was to be on dry land with my friends, having a good time. 

Meanwhile, I rested from time to time by floating and enjoying the Windows 95 day.

The real ordeal lasted about 30 minutes, but it felt longer. Once I got to shore, it took what felt like another 30 minutes to find my group. Being nearsighted didn't help either. I know I was a sight to strangers peeking under umbrellas.

I don't think I was ever so happy as the moment I found my friends! I recall flopping down on the sand, exhausted. I believe I fell asleep for a long time as I looked like a boiled lobster that night. It took me a couple of days to heal and I missed school the following Monday.

But then I was as good as new! I thanked God for literally slowing my mind down enough to run a viable solution passed my panic.

You'd think I'd hate the beach, but it is one of my favorite places. I can't wait to get there, set up the umbrella and wade out into the water!

Maybe you are in a circumstantial undertow. Maybe it's been so long that you wonder if you ever were on dry land. You yell for help. No one comes. You try to describe what's going on. It seems unreal. No response. People do care, but may not understand what's going on. It's okay. 

As Dori in Finding Nemo says, "Just keep swimming, just keep swimming..."

But yes, you were on dry land once. You basked in the sunshine and felt the wind on your face, and you will again. Get the rest you need. You've gone through something big, but it didn't get you down. 

Now you're ready to tell your story. If you try to tell it in the middle of the panic, it will come out wrong, backwards, upsidedown. But once you've rested, you will realize by God's loving grace you got through it and are stronger, kinder, more patient and a better listener. And now you can help others with the lessons you learned. In fact, you may find some humor in parts of your story given time.

I can still see the people jumping when I looked under the umbrellas. I jumped myself. In fact, I am so glad I happened to pick the right direction when I headed up the beach. Imagine if I had chosen the other direction? They might still be looking for me!

Someone told me later in life what to do if caught in an undertow:

Swim sideways.

It can be a handy life philosophy as well.

Swimming sideways can be whatever it takes to get you out of any life loop; it's healing, it's rescue, it's life-saving. If you try to swim into shore, you will exhaust yourself.

Just swim sideways...not forwards, not backwards, sideways as fast as you can and you'll be away from the current quicker than you can say "something's got my foot and I can't get out"!

But you can get out.

In these unprecedented times, I echo the words being said globally, We'll get through this. I don't say this idealistically, nor disrespectfully, but I truly believe we will.

We will hug again, kiss on the cheeks, high five, chest bump, feel the love, have dreams and build a better tomorrow.

In closing, I thank God for our emergency and medical workers, our leaders, entertainers who keep us laughing, and family and friends who comfort and keep us connected! What are you thankful for?

I-I-Ice B-B-Bath! Wahhhhh!

I recently added a regimen to my workout routine that was painful, but effective.

It's called an ice bath.

You have not lived until you try to sit in water that is 60 degrees F for two minutes. 

Optimum time is three minutes. The following graphic explains it all.

I had it all planned out. I did my usual run on a hot humid Houston morning, cooling down, then would try the ice bath.

I happened to be speaking to my first best friend since childhood on the phone, explaining what I was about to do. She "went with me" to McDonalds where I got ten lbs. of ice for $10, bargain! (In reality, it took two trips. Long story, but she was with me through the whole event.)

"I'm getting in!" I told Gina, "but stay on the phone...Arghhhh! I can't believe I'm doing this! Talk to me!"

I don't know what she said, because everything became other-worldly. The minute each body part hit the water, every vessel and gland constricted, including my tear ducts! I felt like crying but couldn't. I laughed! My body was now a popsicle!

Every 30 seconds felt like five minutes. I barely made the two-minute mark when I hopped out!

"Enough! I'm out of here!"

Then the most amazing thing happened a few minutes afterwards, just as promised. The blood rushed though my body and I began to feel great! In fact, I slept well, got up and had extra energy today.

When relaying the story to my aunt yesterday, she said she had never heard of ice baths until watching the US Open. I learned Novak Djokovic and Marton Fucsovics took an ice bath break. Then refreshed, went at it another two-and-a-half hours.

I recommend the ice bath, but only after doing your research and if it fits in with your personality and regimen. 

I am looking forward to my next one. I read they should be done at least one week apart. That's long enough to forget the pain and live in the gain, much like giving birth, so I hear.

This post is dedicated to all athletes paid and not, big and small, known and unknown doing what you can to care for your temple including challenging it to do the amazing so that you can live a longer, stronger more vibrant life!

Here's to the Polar Bears!

Happy Birthday America, Your Pot Continues to Melt Over!

"The ground of liberty is to be gained by inches, that we must be contented to secure what we can get from time to time, and eternally press forward for what is yet to get."

-Thomas Jefferson to Charles Clay Monticello Jan. 27. 1790.
Web Source: http://tjrs.monticello.org/letter/123

Like Yakov Smirnoff used to say, "America, what a country"! It is an amazing country, for in it's ideal state, opposing opinions should enrich one another. Left and Right can meet with a kiss of peace, educating and bringing the extreme views into a more balanced state.


Two thanksgivings come to mind on this day.

The first is that I am blessed with friends in so many sectors and philosophies of Americana, and am the richer for it. There is something beautiful in everyone. Celebrating the good is the only way to give birth to more good.

Secondly, I have been fortunate enough to celebrate the 4th of July in many places, including overseas.

Growing up in Brazil, my parents and other Americans living abroad remembered our roots together. We celebrated with our friends, who were our overseas family, with the traditional cookout of hot dogs, hamburgers, potato salad, apple pie, and usually brigadeiros were thrown in. They're known as chocolate Brazilian truffles, and in my opinion, the national dessert!

We sang the traditional songs, the American National Anthem, America The Beautiful, My Country 'Tis of Thee, and then might throw some camp songs in, both in English and Portuguese.

I recall also celebrating in Japan while there during one summer in college. One of my college mates Melanie and I spent the fourth with an American family, the Rays. We had a cookout, of course. I looked out the window and spied a large car below, that though parallel parked, seemed to take up one lane of the road. At this point, I had been in Japan so long I was used to the diminutive size of everything. When we left, we walked by the car and realized it was a Trans Am! Straight from America to Japan!

And finally, in honor of the World Cup...24 years ago we married in the Boston area, and honeymooned in Florida. That was the year the World Cup was being held in America! Both of us being soccer fans - you could say soccer even brought us together - we so wanted to see one of the games. But the closest we got were the stadiums in Boston and Orlando, but no dice! TV was our salvation! We spent the 4th with some friends, Boston "ex-pats," and watched...wait for it...USA V. Brazil! Brazil won 1-0.

This country is a gift not only to its citizens, but to the world. When we are humble, thank God and put our minds and hearts to work, the world becomes a better place. I believe in American diplomacy, not only via diplomats, but the everyday citizen. My parents taught me diplomacy, and it has come in handy when entering new cultures and sub-cultures. Today I am learning to live in the 21st century culture, and its a new breed of nearly everything. But I am hopeful. I love the next generation, particularly since our daughter is a part of this culture of force for good.

I believe that the USA will not decline, as other great nations have, after 200-250 years. Based upon our roots, I see it flourishing as a great tree shading not only its citizens, but those of other countries through polite diplomacy, citizen cooperation and a constant curiosity for learning and passing along the important to the next generation. We may be in a slump, but not for long! We are resilient, loving, strong and kind. I see new generations being more grateful for their ancestors; we all stand on the shoulders of giants!

So America, Happy Birthday, and may these beautiful colors never flag, may they stand strong with the deepest love for country and all humanity, and may we all know how loved and blessed we are each day God gives us life!

1812 Overture FlashMob! 

Written by a Russian, Tchaikovsky, and played at the Placa del Mercat, Algemeci, Valencia, Spain!
And claimed by Americans as one of our Patriotic pieces of music!

Enjoy!

This post is dedicated to all of those who have served in our armed forces, missionaries, public servants, entrepreneurs, employees, artists, entertainers, believers, non-believers, families, the childless, singles, the dreamers, successful, non-successful, the in-progress, the "don't-give'uppers," liberals, conservatives, hippies, baby boomers, gen-Xers, gen-futures, professors, students, the marginalized; all who call themselves Americans, and those who have given the ultimate gift of their lives. To those who have been wounded or are going through difficulty and are hurting, may your healing come quickly, for we honor your life as well.

God bless you and God bless America!

Heroic Happiness

"...and it was always said of him, that he knew how to keep Christmas well, if any man alive possessed the knowledge..." ¹

 

–—

In the Book "Soul Survivor",² Phillip Yancey writes of G.K. Chesterton, a loved British theologian:


"...[Chesterton] had been struggling with despair, evil, and the meaning of life, and had even approached mental breakdown. When he emerged from that melancholy, he sought to make a case for optimism amid the gloom of such a world."

I thought of Ebenezer Scrooge who had been visited by the ghost of Christmas past where lived unforgiveness. He then encountered the Ghost of Christmas present stately planted in stoicism. Finally Scrooge saw his ultimate fate. Eternal unhappiness.

But in his dark night of the soul, Ebenezer Scrooge made a decision.

Interpretation mine: I will serve those around me the best I can with what I have, and I will start with my nephew and his happy though ill son, Tim.

It only took one step, a change of attitude. Then the clouds parted. Scrooge changed some things including his circumstances and his friends. And happiness lived happily in his heart ever after, affecting those around him.

Choosing heroic happiness is rooted in deep joy born of so many things, including injustice, adversity and loss. It can continue to flow like a fountain all the days of our life should we chose it.

I sincerely believe today that happiness begins the moment we know truly for ourselves that God Is and will never leave us so long as we live. And should we chose to follow Him, the more we obey him in good conscious, the happier we get, even if things get tough. When doubts come, read The Beatitudes -- The Be Attitudes!

As we continue growing in this Truth all the days of our life, the gift of  Happiness grows as well.

Self-gratification is happiness rooted in fleeting pleasure. But pleasure in its best form merely mirrors God, who was pleased when he created this world in its perfect state.

When we decide to be happy and find pleasure the way God designed it, it continues to repay not only us, but those around us.

So when you smile today, don't think of it as a mask, think of it as a deep well that is rooted in heroic happiness. You will find your well filled to brimming over!

Watch the clouds part, if only in your heart! And don't forget to pass along good news and good stories along the way!

¹ Charles Dickens "A Christmas Carol." 

Knowing Where I Am Going

The Eastern European Missions (EEM) dinner was last night. They know where they are going. They want to take others with them. They are like Abraham.

Abraham was confidently looking forward to a city with eternal foundations, a city designed and built by God. -Hebrews 11:10 (ESV)

I too want to view that Holy City one of these days.

There is a song from my youth that goes:

I want to view that Holy City
Oh I want to view that Holy City one of these days, Halleluiah
I want to view that Holy City
I want to view that Holy City one of these days
Oh yeah.

I want to sit at the welcome table...
I want to feast on milk and honey...
I want to sing and never get tired...
I want to meet my lovely Jesus...

How many immigrants sacrificed to make it to the country called the United States of America to find hope, a better life and a future for their families? They were pilgrims, some who died along the way facing the new land. But they died facing the new land. Were they angry, frustrated, grumblers? I don't know. I know that when I hear their stories in documentaries they mention difficulties without those difficulties defining the outcome. Once they reached the promised land, the troubles were gone. Were there troubles in the new land? Yes. But what they went through to get to the new land prepared most of them better for the troubles they encountered in the land of hope.

Those of us seeking God will find ourselves in His new land one day. We are encountering troubles along the way, but when we reach that land, we will have no trouble. While we don't have the details of what our life will be, just like the immigrants coming to America, we still press on because we know it will be better than the best we find in this temporary land we must leave some day. In fact, there will be no trouble in the new land. God has promised it to be so. I can't claim to fully understand how this will be so, but I have faith that God's word is truth.

And God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes; 
and there shall be no more death, neither sorrow, 
nor crying, neither shall there be any more pain: 
for the former things are passed away.
-Revelation 21:4 (KJV)

The hymn "Higher Ground" comes to mind:

I’m pressing on the upward way,
New heights I’m gaining every day;
Still praying as I onward bound,
Lord, plant my feet on higher ground.

I found a video when looking up the lyrics for Higher Ground. I don't know these precious people, but hope to meet them someday.

Let's find others to take with us on this magnificent journey.

In each word, each thought, each trial and success may I never forget I must be knowing where I am going.

Psalm for March 12, 2012

  
A Psalm for a season of change to the God who never changes.

I praise Your Name to the Heavens.

You are my Rock and Strength.

Your adopted family will reign forever,

Your counsel never fails.

Guard the backdoor of my heart,

and let none enter it without Your blessing.

Search my soul and cleanse it.

May I stand before You with clean hands.

Your silence is strength.

Your guidance is sure.

When my feet fail to find firm ground,

Your light keeps me from stumbling.

 Though men forget Your Name,

You don't ever forget Your own.

Even the faithful fail one another.

When they seek You, both are reconciled.

Your silence strengthens the hearts 

of those who believe Your written Word.

Your Love is not silent; it shines in all who believe You.

It serves, conquers jealousy, restores honor.

Your peace confounds men;

It burns slowly, waters constantly blessing all who know it.

We praise and thank You for your unending love

that saves us from eternal loss.

Pause.

It is by Your Grace Alone

We can say that we know You Are God.