Everyone Has a Passion

HOW SWIMMING IMPACTED MY LIFE

As I mentioned previously, swimming was my life for 14 years. 14 YEARS

High school was rough for me when it came to practices, meets and school. I would get up at 5 am every morning to jump into a freezing cold pool by 5:30 am, attend classes from 7:25 am until 2:45 pm, then I would have about an hour to relax until I had a second practice for my club team at 4 pm.

Being a competitive swimmer gave me the opportunity to learn time-management. When will I have time to study? When will I have time to eat? Hell, when will I have time to sleep?

No matter how busy we are, I learned that it is extremely important to take care of ourselves. Sleep is critical to our health and well-being. Unfortunately, I think we all lack in that department when life gets crazy. I know for a fact college definitely impacted my sleep schedule more than swimming did. That’s why I reverted back to my knowledge from 5+ years ago. It is standard to get anywhere between 7-9 hours of sleep at night to function properly during the day. However, excessive amounts of sleep could actually cause you to be more tired.

In the midst of 2 practices and school, I learned how to meal prep at the age of 13. My mom taught me everything on how to prepare an omelette, grill chicken, make pasta, sauté vegetables, etc. I would meal prep my breakfast and lunch but when it came to dinner I would always ask my parents to take me to Chick-fil-a, Whataburger or Culvers. BALANCE.

EVERYONE HAS A PASSION. MINE WAS SWIMMING.

Any time that I would go to practice or swim meets, I was surrounded by amazing team mates and profound coaches. Team mates who pushed me when I wanted to slow down. Coaches that empowered me when I felt worthless. Swimming was my safe haven. I was pretty introverted when I was younger. I didn’t like talking in front of an audience and I got nervous quite frequently. But when it came to swimming in front of thousands of people, all of my nerves faded away. I was fierce in the water.

That confidence traveled with me throughout my college years. I was no longer introverted. I could talk to a group of 20+ people and be completely comfortable.

MY ADVICE TO YOU

Find your passion. Figure out what makes you happy and more importantly, what makes you confident. It may take you a while to discover your passion but that’s the beauty of it. Try new things that you typically wouldn’t try. Break away from routines. Don’t just exist in this world; LIVE. Don’t be opposed to learning new things. We learn something new every day whether we realize it or not. Why not learn more and more about OURSELVES by doing something we never expected to do.