Better Scared Than Sorry.

One summer when I was a kid I took swimming lessons,

I made it to level three, and then school began, and I never returned.

But I remember my last day of swimming lessons so clearly.

I was always afraid of drowning, so I never really applied myself.

I would hesitate before jumping in the pool, even with a life jacket on.

But for some reason, on that last day of swimming lessons, I went all out.

I was tired of watching the other kids jump into the deep end, so I forced myself to jump in too.

Boy was I scared, but better scared than sorry.

I pushed myself to face my fears, and I swam my little heart out.

When it came time to receive our final grades, my swimming instructor handed out every report card except mine.

She took mine to the back office, and when she returned, there was a little whiteout mark over my initial grade.

Turns out I had almost failed, but when she saw how hard I tried that day, she changed my grade.

I never finished learning to swim.

Maybe that wasn’t the lesson I was there to learn.

- J

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