Swimming Lessons

Well, after three lessons in the swimming pool at the Village Hotel, a minor miracle has happened.
I no longer sit on the edge of the pool, white as a sheet, with just my feet in the water, not wanting to go any further.
I get into the water quite happily, move around more than an arms reach from the edge of the pool, stick my head fully underwater and try to float with very little aid, and today I actually swam!!!
Well, I suppose a more accurate description would be that I moved my arms and legs with no support (human or otherwise) for about 3 or 4 strokes without drowning or panicking. (The panic did start to set in when I realised what I was actually doing!)
No, I still can't swim, but I have made massive progress in a short time and overcome so many of my fears that it is truly amazing.
My dreadful lack of co-ordination is going to be the biggest hurdle now - I have to not only remember to move my arms and legs separately (not all 4 limbs at the same time - struggling with that concept), but also to blow out while my face is in the water and only breathe in when it is OUT of the water.
That's four things I have to remember. I am a man, and it is a well known fact that we cannot multi-task!
Two things I can handle (I can blow out and move my arms), add anything else into the mix and it falls apart!! I have tried just holding my breath so that I can take that part out of the equation, but it simply is not possible to hold your breath for the entire 45 minute lesson.
Apparently my left leg won't move in the same way as my right one, so I tend to go at a bit of an angle. I was asked if I had ever injured it, but to my knowledge I haven't, so I am just a bit lop-sided I guess!
I will get there, just not as quickly as I would like. I have to be patient and keep practising hard.
Without doubt, I couldn't have achieved what I have without a superb teacher - someone who gives me the confidence to push myself and who I have absolute trust in.
But, I also have to give myself a bit of a pat on the back for actually giving it a go and doing everything she asks of me.
Usually, when I really put my mind to it, I can do things, learn new skills or improve on old ones. It seems that I still can. There is life in the old bear yet!!
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