A fortuneteller who can supposedly see your past lives once told me that I should be careful of the water because in one of my past lives, it was the cause of my death. I am not sure I believe in past lives, but I wonder if she has a point. Like I mentioned in a previous blog, I have nearly drowned thrice already. And that doesn’t count my other accidents in the water.
In fact, just recently, during our swimming classes, I have had a couple of experiences. The first one was when we were still learning to swim underwater. I held my breath and was supposed to swim in a straight line and surface in the shallows. I ended up veering off course towards the deep end.
I was so focused that I didn’t hear everyone shouting above ground. I only realized there was a problem when I suddenly found Coach infront of me, pulling me to safety, and I found that I could no longer touch the floor with my feet. He had panicked and jumped into the water for me. I thought I would have made it, though, but then that’s just me.
The second incident happened last night. We were done with our classes, but we stayed in the pool practising. I took a deep breath, pushed off, and wham! Something collided with my face, smashing my goggles into my right eye. It turned out to be Coach.
I ended up getting several cuts around my eye. Thanks to first aid, though, it did not end up swollen the next day, but the noticeable angry red marks still serve as a conversation-starter.
Coach kept on apologizing and felt really bad about what happened, but I just laughed and told him, “It’s not your fault. Accidents happen! Especially to me.”
One would think I should stay away from the water, then. But I have this belief that you should not avoid your fear but rather, face it, and arm yourself against it. That’s why I took up swimming lessons.
I do hope I don’t encounter anymore accidents before graduation, though. It’s tomorrow, after all. What could possibly happen to me in a span of a couple of hours?
Yeah, I know…a lot.