For the two months we have been going to Hapuna Beach for our morning swim, we have started and ended from the same spot every day. Get in at the south end of the beach, swim to the north end, pause for a few minutes to catch our breath and clear the accumulated salt from our various orafaces, then swim back to where we started. This has been all well and good up until now, but there has been a new factor to contend with these past few days, the remnants of a giant tropical storm that has been looming off the Big Island coast for several days.
The day before we started our 30 Day Challenge with the new parking spot adventure I had one of the hardest swims I can remember. I was in a pretty bad mood when I got to the beach in the first place (which is rare) but the current was so strong that it took us fully twice as long to complete a lap as it usually does.
I was so “over it” about halfway through our return lap that I nearly said “to hell with it” and quit, but instead I decided to throw a little tantrum, thrashing as hard as I could, totally wearing myself out in a futile effort to fight the current to reach my stopping point. I was so beside myself that day that I didn’t take the time to reevaluate my situation to see how I might be able to make my experience more enjoyable.
Today, the water was much worse than it was two days ago. So much so that instead of seeing the typical tide coming in from the west, gently lapping at the sand on the beach, the ocean looked more like a river flowing from north to south, making our typical south to north circuit look like an impossible journey. But I was in much better spirits today, which always allows for much clearer thinking.
I took one look that the ocean/river that flowed before me and then remembered the words of two of my favorite motivational speakers, Jerry and Esther Hicks, who say “stop paddling upstream, just let go of the oars and go with the flow, and the current will take you where you want to go.” So we did just that. We swam our usual circuit backwards, from north to south, with the current, instead of against it. Not only that, but when we got to our stopping point on the other end instead of swimming back against the current like I did on my “grumpy” day, we got out of the water, walked back to our starting point, and swam the same route again.
Instead of angrily fighting the current, we enjoyed a nice conversation, contemplating our new definition of “going with the flow” while occasionally pausing to privately giggle at excessively pale and/or ridiculously sunburned tourists on the beach.