Swimming has been on my bucket list right from the first day I had a phobia for large bodies of water. Although I was afraid of the water, I knew there was a need to take proactive steps if I wanted to survive in case I found myself stranded in the water in the near future, and so I began to nurture that dream. Unfortunately there isn't a place I can learn how; the small river we had in a place I used to live during my high school days wasn't big enough to accommodate that, so I long to visit a place with a swimming pool so I can learn. When did I finally see one, and was I able to learn? These and many more relating to it are what I'll be talking about below.
When I told my parents about my desire to learn how to swim when I still stayed under their roof, they didn't approve my request, probably because of their fear of the worst, as there were stories of people drowning in the pool around that time. So when I had some form of freedom and moved to college, I revived my desire to learn how to swim and began to go in search of a hotel that has a pool around my institution. When I finally found one, it was very far from where I stayed, so being unsure if I'd have someone to teach me, I begged a friend who knows how to swim to be my coach, and he agreed to teach me on the condition that I'd pay for his fare to and from and access to the pool, and I immediately obliged, believing I could learn it all in a day.
Even though I wasn't rich, I still managed to pay for him so we could go, and I'd finally be able to learn how to swim, and so we set out on our journey. When we finally arrived at the hotel and made our way to the poolside, I was greeted with disappointment because the pool was void of water. Apparently, they had flushed out all the water so they could bring in new ones that very day, and while I was trying to wait, maybe it'll fill up in time, we were told it'll take almost all day to fill up and they still need to treat the water. I was so disappointed, knowing fully well that I not only wasted money on transportation but also won't get to learn how to swim.
I'm sure you'll be dying to know if I later learn how to swim or not with all of these disappointing stories. Well, I won't say I did. Because even though a few years later when a friend finally taught me. It was inside a under construction big fish pond site, there are lots of water in it, and he taught me a few things like stroking and the likes, but it's just that one time and I'm not even sure I remember how it's done has I didn't get to practice after that day. So in a nutshell, peradventure I find myself stranded in the middle of the river or sea, I might just be as good as dead, because I don't know how to swim and might end up drowning before help comes.
While I don't know how to swim, I won't say there's anything actually stopping me from learning how now, because I think I have all it takes to learn at this moment: money to transport myself to a location, money to pay for training and the like. I'm just too preoccupied with life's responsibilities that I don't think of it again, but now that this prompt reminds me, I might as well add it to my bucket list again and make sure it's achieved before the year runs to an end.
All photos are taken and edited on canva.
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