Swimming May Be One of the Answers

I love swimming. I used to do it all the time. But it was one of the things that dropped off our harried schedule, plus the added time of driving to the pool and back, and the extra mental strength required to do it in January. Have you ever walked out of a pool into 35 degrees and freezing rain with a wet head? It can be done. I have done it. But, it is not easy.

Here, swimming is easy…necessary even. After a warm, sweaty walk into town and back, there is nothing you will want more than to get into the pool. Plus, its one easy flight of stairs and a few steps from our condo. It’s like having our very own pool.

For those of you that know us well, you know that a big driver for this “sabbatical” was a need to escape. Both Matt and I were burnt out and unhappy, for different reasons and in different ways. Not a lot of time was put into deciding where we would go, nor was a lot of time put into the question of should we and would we go. We just needed out, so we jumped.

We have now been here two weeks. It has been a interesting mixture of experiences, part vacation (playing in the ocean, watching sunsets, swimming and eating out), part moving to a new place and getting settled (buying sheets, towels, sharp knives and a good frying pan) and part regular routine (grocery shopping, laundry, cleaning, getting boys to school, feeding boys, chivying boys and kicking them off screens). All things familiar, but in a combination and environment we’ve never experienced.

We are not yet “settled,” but are perhaps in the process of “settling.” I wonder how long it will take for us to feel “settled” and what that will look like. A couple from Tel Aviv (they moved here to escape their own version of the “rat race”) owns a bakery and cafe in town called, “Breaking Bread ” (a play off the “Breaking Bad” show). On our first (of what will eventually be many) visits, the wife told me it took her 5 or 6 months to adjust. “Yikes,” I thought, “we don’t have that kind of time. We will be heading home in 5 or 6 months. I certainly hope we are not heading home just when we feel settled.”

I think a lot about what I want out of this experience and what I was needing when we made the jump. One of the answers is to take better care of myself and one of the ways I am doing that is swimming. Now that the boys are in school and we have a few free hours four days a week, I swim. The pool is cold in the morning. Initially I always wonder if it’s maybe a little too cold…but after a few laps, my heart rate rises, my body loosens, my mind settles and it feels perfect. I still think a lot about what else I am looking for. At least for now, I have found this one thing. It brings me joy and that’s a pretty good answer.