Riptides

My usual response to overcome the invisible blockers that stopped me doing the things I wanted to do was to fight. I was my own cornerman telling myself to go out there, bite down on my gumshield and fight. I told myself to work harder, to stop being a pussy. I invoked deathbed scenes where I cried with eternal disappointment at how my life turned out. I put on my headphones and played Goggins at 11 so he was speaking to my very soul. Every single time the result was the same, I tried for a bit, faltered and failed. If only my amp went to 12.

Riptides or ripcurrents are strong currents of water moving away from shore. As I kid I experienced these several times whilst on holidays Spain. They can be terrifying. My natural reaction was to swim or run as hard as possible against the current towards the shore but moving against the current my progress was very slow. It’s exhausting. On one occasion I truly believed my number was up. The harder I swam the further from shore I got. Apparently, the best strategy for escaping a riptide is to relax and swim out of the current by swimming parallel to the shoreline rather than towards it. Once you escape the current you can more easily swim to shore.

I try to adopt the riptide metaphor in my approach to life now. Relax. Acknowledge the issues in my life and circumvent them rather than confront them.