THE DEEP END OF THE POOL IS WHERE YOU LEARN TO SWIM
I was remembering back to before I was a dad
I’d watched my nieces and nephews grow up,
I saw the challenges
I saw the meltdowns
And if I am completely honest
𝐈 𝐡𝐚𝐝 𝐚 𝐟𝐚𝐢𝐫 𝐛𝐢𝐭 𝐨𝐟 𝐬𝐞𝐥𝐟-𝐝𝐨𝐮𝐛𝐭 𝐚𝐫𝐨𝐮𝐧𝐝 𝐛𝐞𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐚 𝐟𝐚𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫.
Am I strong enough for it?
Do I have the skills and patience?
Can I be the amazing example my dad was for me?
And what if I messed it up?
If we try for a kid, it’s not like cancelling a gym membership
I can’t just bail they next day and make things go back to how they were
So, the conclusion that most of us make (if lucky enough to be able to have kids)
Is to dive in the deep end and do our best
To learn to swim
And when we bugger it up,
Learn from our mistakes
And get back on the wagon the next day.
𝐈 𝐰𝐨𝐧𝐝𝐞𝐫 𝐰𝐡𝐲 𝐰𝐞 𝐝𝐨𝐧’𝐭 𝐬𝐡𝐚𝐫𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐬𝐚𝐦𝐞 𝐚𝐩𝐩𝐫𝐨𝐚𝐜𝐡 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐡𝐞𝐚𝐥𝐭𝐡?
A lot of us are so trapped by the fear of failure
And although we totally hate the way we feel
Although every single day we are so exhausted from carrying weight
The idea of doing something about it
And risking being judged by others
Is far scarier than just jumping in and starting,
And figuring it out along the way.
𝐋𝐨𝐨𝐤, 𝐛𝐨𝐭𝐡 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐠𝐬 𝐚𝐫𝐞 𝐬𝐜𝐚𝐫𝐲 - 𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐟𝐞𝐚𝐫 𝐨𝐟 𝐟𝐚𝐢𝐥𝐮𝐫𝐞 𝐀𝐍𝐃 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐩𝐨𝐬𝐬𝐢𝐛𝐢𝐥𝐢𝐭𝐲 𝐨𝐟 𝐛𝐢𝐠 𝐟𝐮𝐭𝐮𝐫𝐞 𝐡𝐞𝐚𝐥𝐭𝐡 𝐩𝐫𝐨𝐛𝐥𝐞𝐦𝐬
But what if like becoming a dad,
You just embraced the idea that you don’t need to be perfect
And as long as you move forward, you’d win
𝘏𝘰𝘸 𝘸𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘢𝘭𝘪𝘵𝘺 𝘤𝘩𝘢𝘯𝘨𝘦 𝘺𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘢𝘱𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘢𝘤𝘩?