Flip, Push, Rotate...Repeat

I've been life-guarding in the mornings now for about eight months.  It is a fascinating job in some aspects and a completely boring job in others! :-)

One thing I get to do often though, is watch people's strokes while they swim.  It is amazing what you can learn from watching the difference between great swimmers and those...well, we'll just say those like myself!

I would not say I'm a great swimmer.  I think I'm a strong swimmer.  I can pull about anyone in if I needed to do a rescue, I just won't win any speed awards.

Though, one of the biggest things I notice really speeds up a swimmer actually has nothing to do with their stroke.  It is all in their turns. 

Some people swim to the wall...pause for a while (for some this is a few seconds, some a few minutes :-), turn around and keep swimming. 
Some people swim to the wall...come up for a breath, turn and keep swimming. 
Others do a flip turn of sorts.  Well, they at least are attempting a flip turn.  It often looks more like a whale crashing into an invisible wall.
Some do a half a flip turn, where they kind of rotate, but really are just keeping their head in the water for their turn.
However, there are a few that just have beautiful flip turns.
They flip over, push off the wall, and rotate back to their stomach.

These are the folks that really are fun to watch.  It is amazing to see them come to the wall a full body length behind someone, and come back off the wall a body length or two ahead.

For eight months, I've watched all the flip turns, trying to learn how to do them properly.

I was taught how to do them while on the swim team in high school, but I had a knack for kicking the all or flipping and pushing off the wall straight into the bottom of the pool.  Finally my swim coach just told me to touch the wall and turn without attempting to flip.

So, last Friday...after eight months of studying, it was my time to try the flip turn.
It looks simple, flip, push off the wall, and rotate.
That's what the masters swim coach says when he comes in to do his morning class.

Well, as you can imagine, just watching did not necessarily translate into my body doing what it is supposed to do.  I looked more like the whale crashing into an invisible wall than I did the graceful swimmers.

I decided to give up after, 45 minutes of flip, flop, hit the bottom, crash into the wall, drink some from the pool and even the fun, flip and push with being so far from the wall I kick nothing.

I think I had lowered the pool level a good solid inch from the splashing and drinking. 
I was really more entertained by my arrogance of thinking that watching folks do it properly would quickly translate into me doing a good flip turn. 

I did stumble into a few good flip turns, but overall, I need a lot more practice.

I loved how much I think this also reflects in our spiritual lives.  We love to watch others do things, and thing that translates for us.  However, everything we do requires practice. 
Having faith does not just come, it takes practice and work.
Having patience does not just happen, it takes practice and work. 

Many of us are okay with just letting others do the work and trying to learn from their mistakes, but we simply have to learn things own our own. 

As I prepare to head toward Nicaragua on a mission trip in the morning, I have been thinking about what I need to work on in my own life.  What spiritual disciplines do I need to practice more for my faith to grow? 

Here are a few disciplines and traits I want God to help me practice while in Nicaragua.
1. Compassion - I believe I used to be a very compassionate person, but I believe in many ways I have lost that over the last few years.  I want to practice having compassion for people again.  I know this will be easy to do in Nicaragua, but I want it to translate into my life back home here as well.

2. Listening - I also believe I was a great listener once upon a time.  I think I have grown distracted with too many things lately and I do not believe I listen to people very well anymore.  The challenge in Nicaragua is that most folks will be speaking a language I do not speak, but I don't think that is an excuse for not listening.  This too I want to translate back into my personal life here in the states.

3. Simplicity - It is difficult in American culture to live a "simplistic" life.  Our culture dictates that so much of life "requires" us to have so many material possessions.  I believe I have become to dependent on these many different forms of technology over the last few years.  In Nicaragua, I'll be forced into a more simplistic life, but my spirit desperately needs this to translate back into my home life. 

These are just a few things I'm praying that God helps me practice in Nicaragua. 
I believe too often we just "justify" away these things, saying they are either traits you are born with or traits you are not born with.  I believe they are things we can practice.  I believe there are many traits that we could practice, but cop out and say "it just isn't who I am". 

This Lenten season, what traits do you need to practice more?  What things have been on your heart that you know God wants you to start putting into your life?  Challenge yourself on this and do not just take the easy way out. 

I do believe that God loves us just the way that we are, but I also believe that God loves us too much to leave us the way we are.