Slip Slidin' Away

Today was a busy day.  Loaded up the kids and headed to PB for an appointment.  Then a quick lunch with mom.  Loaded up kids and headed back to Fredericktown to pick up sick dog to take to vet.  Came back home, unloaded kids, had about 30 minutes to catch my breath, then loaded kids back up to head to Farmington to the Water Park.  

Now, I am not a swimmer.  It's not that I don't necessarily want to be, but I don't like water up my nose or in my eyes, and I have never been able to float - I just sink to the bottom.  I know, I know, I know, I just need to relax.  Uh, well, I've tried that and I can't quite get there.  So, I got on the inner-tube and floated around Lazy River, or whatever it was called.  That was relaxing for the most part and non threatening because the water was not over my head at any point.  I would have preferred to have been there by myself and not have people bumping into me, but it was for the most part enjoyable.  The kids and I went around two times then they had other things in mind.

Let me say again, in case you missed it the first time.  I don't like water rushing up my nose and I don't like it in my eyes.  Well, the water park has two slides side by side, a green one that is completely enclosed.  (Did I mention that I'm a bit claustrophobic?) And the other is pink.  It is not enclosed and is supposed to be the kinder of the two.  My children wanted to take on the water slides next.  Yes, they did.  And I stood and watched people coming off of the two slides and down into the water.  The water wasn't deep where the slides spew people out.  It was quite interesting to watch because some people went completely under water and came back up and some went in without going under the water.  

As I stood there with one of my six wonders of the world, I was reminded of my recent post on fear.  Sooooooo, I decided that I surely could handle the more gentle pink side.  I pretty much convinced myself that if I positioned my body just right I would be able to just gently plop into the water with my head remaining above.  So I climbed the stairs with all my little dear ones. Four took the green side. Three of us took the pink side. (I was in the pink line.)  The line was not moving as slowly as I would have preferred as I was in no hurry. I needed as much time as I could get to calculate my body position. I felt like I was in the movie, The Green Mile.  Yes I did, "walking the green mile, getting right with Jesus........"  I could not show fear however, in front of my children, right?  

Before I was completely emotionally prepared, it was our turn.  My little brave one thought it would be wonderful fun for the two of us to go down together. So, with a deep breath and a long sigh, I sat down with my legs around her. And before I could even begin to count, the water engulfed our legs and off we went.  I'm not sure how many times I said it , and I'm not sure how loudly I said it, but I'm pretty sure is was in rapid succession, "I'm gonna die, I'm gonna die, I'm gonna die!"  My little traveling companion thought that was hysterically funny.  I was being slung from side to side and fear began to surface when I realized that I was going to have absolutely NO CHANCE of positioning my body just right to make a head above the water landing. What had I been thinking?? Well that slide just spit us after what seemed like a 5K run of whirling and twirling right into the pool and I was submerged. Yep, all the way under, water up the nose, water in the eyes, but fortunately we popped up and I had survived to tell about it.  

You may be asking, "what does this have to do with grief?"  Probably absolutely nothing.  But I really needed to get that off my chest so I hopefully won't replay it in my dreams tonight!   Thanks for letting me share!  But hey, I faced a fear, and I am proud of that.  Do I want to do it again?  Well, NO, not for a while anyway.

Have you faced a fear today?  I like the quote I've shared below.  Definitely something to think about.  I hope you are beginning to see some light every now and then on your journey.  Don't you forget that there is

Sunshine After the Storm
Blessings
Betsy