Getting Past Intimidation

by WiredBerries Editors — February 20, 2008

I know that swimming is great exercise, but every time I head for the lap pool at my local gym, the same swimming instructor is there, giving lessons, and I'm sure, judging my inadequate stroke form. I'm so convinced that he's secretly laughing at my pitiful breast stroke, that I stopped swimming. I stick to the elliptical machine or run outdoors instead of face the, yes, perhaps imagined, scrutiny of this stranger. But recently a friend of mine revealed over coffee that she had finally overcome her fear of the free weights area and felt empowered by the rush of doing bicep curls and squats with the "big guys." As someone who has enjoyed free weights for years, I laughed with her at how silly she had been to be intimidated. Then, mid giggle, I realized that I couldn't truly enjoy the shared experience unless I faced my nemesis, the swim coach (true, he didn't know he was my nemesis, but that seems wholly irrelevant). It's time I suit up, let go of caring what a stranger thinks - imagined or otherwise -- and just enjoy the time to myself focused on the beat of my heart and the sound of my breath. After all, I could probably run laps around him on the elliptical...