Sharks in my swimming pool?!

Something very weird happened to me while going for a swim this morning. Since moving to Phoenix from Seattle I have fallen in love with spending time at the pool on as many mornings as possible. Of course it all depends on how much time I have before I have to be at an appointment though I’ve started repeating a mantra, ‘Mornings are mine’, to solidify this as an ongoing goal.

I have never in the past been a morning person, never. My poor Mother had to struggle every day to get me up to go to school. I found out later in life that I had sleep apnea which has been helped greatly by taking off a lot of excess weight. Apparently it wasn’t just being overweight that had caused it for me but a deviated septum as well, which I had surgically repaired a few years ago. Yes folks, I’ve had a nose job. I suspect I had the sleep apnea even as kid.

In the last few years when I began losing weight and making a lot of changes which ended up being a life makeover, I decided to start getting up earlier. I decided this several times. I’d always been the person waking up with just enough time to grab some coffee on my way out the door to rush to work. Talk about stressful. I tried desperately to avoid any job that started before 11am, which can severely limit your opportunities.

After ‘deciding’ on those many occasions I have finally succeeded in not only getting up early but creating a ritual of it. Most days I’m up in plenty of time to make breakfast, meditate, and often get in a quick walk or some laps in the pool before heading to the office. I’ve discovered that I am much more productive during the day, less stressed, and just felt better when I get up early.

This morning was a ‘laps in the pool day’. The pool was a bit chilly but not terribly bad. I was swimming along peacefully when I suddenly began thinking about sharks, and got this very uncomfortable feeling that something was behind me. I turned quickly and there was of course, nothing there.

I shrugged it off and started to swim again but this discomfort shortly turned to fear.

You see I have a very healthy fear of being in the water with sharks. Some might call it a phobia. Damn you, ‘Jaws’! I discussed my fear on this episode of the Exploring Awesome Podcast. I asked the listeners if it was something I should get over. I fully believe I could get over the fear if I chose to. It just doesn’t seem worth it to me. I’ve got plenty of other things I’m working to change in order to reach absolute perfection LOL. The general consensus of the listeners was not to bother.

So here I am swimming in a pool in Phoenix, AZ - a landlocked state, and I’m afraid a shark is going to chomp on my freshly tanned legs. Or not necessarily even a shark but something. I immediately started utilizing some Neuro Linguistic Programing (NLP) techniques and I couldn’t even remember the protocol for the quick phobia cure or anything else.

This is a technique that I’ve used frequently with different clients to help them get over their fear of flying, dogs, driving, and a host of other issues and I couldn’t even remember what to do for myself. My mind went blank. Actually it wasn’t blank, I wish it was blank. No, it was inundated with what seemed to be every shark picture or video I’d ever seen. Damn you, Discovery Channel!

‘In a pool?!’ my logical mind shouted. My illogical mind didn’t even bother to reply it just hastened me out to the safety of dry land… beside the pool…. in the landlocked state. After trying to convince myself for a few minutes to get back into that shark filled death trap of a pool I decided to get into the sauna. At least nothing could sneak up on me in there.

While I was sitting there I kept thinking, an unmet fear will never depart on its own. I know that logically. I also know that an unmet fear often becomes worse over time. People with anxiety and fears and phobias have great imaginations which can really fuel the fire of these conditions. One day you don’t like being in crowds the next day your agoraphobic. I knew if I didn’t get back into that pool as soon as possible this unmet fear was likely to grow. Not only would it be more difficult later to get back into a pool but I could end up being afraid of the sauna, the bath, even the shower perhaps which would be terrible for my social life. Ugh. Anthony Robbins says, ‘If you can't you must, and if you must you can.’ That’s great Tony but my butt seems to be stuck to the bottom of this sauna.

I kept trying to pump myself up, (still unable to remember any of the techniques I’ve used so many times to help myself and others), and arguing with myself that I’d just come back tomorrow. Damn. My logical mind finally got me to stand up in the sauna. ‘You can do it’, I’m silently shouting at myself. ‘No I can’t’, I argued back. Finally though I started to move, I pulled up my big boy skivvies and walked quickly over and I jumped right in. And whatta ya know, those sharks were still there but they left me alone and eventually they faded way. I did ten more laps just to show those vicious beasts who was in charge. Fortunately I finished my swim and am free to swim again. And I owe it all to inspirational phrases :)

Are there any 'sharks' unmet in your life? How might your life be different if you met them head on?

Jim Kellner, Certified Hypnotherapist

Image courtesy of luigi diamanti at FreeDigitalPhotos.net

#fear #shark #phoenix #overcomefear