New Year’s Resolution or Epiphany?

I didn’t take a nap today. I swam 950 yards in the pool. That’s a fairly big turnaround for someone who has been napping like a demon for months now. My poor Apple watch has given up on me. It whimpers, You closed one ring today—good job! We’ll see what it has to say about today. Maybe it will blink its little self on and ask, Is this a New Year’s resolution or an epiphany?

The swim took 32 minutes. That’s a slow, easy swim—a little over half a mile. It was the first time I’ve been back in the pool in almost two months. Longer than the broken thumb or diverticulitis truly required, actually. At one point I was afraid I had become someone who used to swim. I was very glad to be back in the water.

I was concerned the swimming might hurt the thumb. But when I got out of the pool, I swear my thumb felt better. More limber. Like the water had massaged it. Water is an amazing thing.

The pool where I swim at Diamondhead is pretty drab. It’s at the back of the gym. In a metal domed building. It has two dedicated lanes, plus an aerobic area that can handle spillover swimmers. Sometimes I’m the only one in the pool. I don’t prefer that. But I always know I will be able to swim, either in a lane or in the spillover. The lack of uncertainty outweighs the aesthetics.

Unfortunately, you can only swim when the gym is staffed, and it’s not staffed on Sundays. I’d like to go again tomorrow. Then I’d know I was really back. I will just have to trust myself.

As my health has gone up and down this autumn (broken thumb, diverticulitis, upper respiratory virus with a never-going-away-cough), I’ve realized I really need to exercise when I feel good. Not according to some schedule. More like, drop everything right now! Go for a walk. Get in the pool. Ride your bike along the beach sidewalk, enjoying the breeze. Whatever was on the agenda can wait. This may not.

So, if the question is whether a New Year’s resolution or epiphany got me back in the pool, the answer is implementing an epiphany. I hope I can continue to live into it.