Our Little Sunshines: Mental Workout

Today the kids participated in our swim team's annual lap-a-thon fundraiser. The goal was to swim as many laps as possible in one hour. I love these kinds of opportunities. The chance to push yourself past what you think you can do. The chance to practice being mentally tough. Because when your body is exhausted and hurting and begging you to stop, then the challenge stops being a physical battle and becomes a mental one. And that's a major key to being successful in most aspects of life...having the mental and emotional fortitude to keep going when it's harder than you imagined it ever could be. It doesn't matter how fast, strong, or smart you are...if your "mental muscles" aren't strong, aren't ready to tough it out, then you're not going to make it.

I can't express how proud I am of these guys. I watched them work hard, refusing to quit, even when I knew they were worn out. I saw them encourage each other in the pool with a smile as they passed one another doing a lap of breastroke. And I saw that their strokes looked just as beautiful at the end of the hour as they had at the beginning. That's a testament to how strong they've become this past year, both mentally and physically.

Buggy LOVES to compete and today was no different. Even after my talk about this being a marathon, NOT a sprint, I could tell she was pushing herself as hard as she could go. Her suit gave her red burns along her sides under her arms, but she didn't complain (until afterwards) and it didn't slow her down. She racked up 84 laps today, more than a mile.

Hard to believe that this is the same boy, who only a year ago, struggled to finish just one lap. He was all smiles today and ready for a new challenge...no nerves or tears that we sometimes see in a new situation. He swam 66 laps today and each lap looked just as beautiful as the one before it.

I could tell Cassidy was nervous about today, but instead of scowling as she sometimes does when she's worried or frustrated, she glided through the water with a smile on her face. A smile that only got bigger and brighter when she finished a lap and saw me waving my arms over my head and cheering her on. She finished 76 laps today, also more than a mile.