I Have to Say It Was a Good Day...

You have to count your blessings when you can. And yesterday, I had a good day. Plenty to celebrate, plenty to smile about. Those days do not happen all the time. In fact, they often feel like they are few and far between. So, it is time to be thankful, and even to reflect.

It did not appear that it would necessarily be a special day. After all, it was Monday. And although Monday is not for me the bad news that it is for many, if not most, people, I actually personally look forward to Mondays, because it is my weekends that are filled with more work time than any other part of the week. So, usually, I actually wind up looking forward to Mondays.

But that said, I had to work some extra hours at my job, and that made it grueling. I appreciate the extra hours, with the chance at extra pay. Yet, it is not too fun to go through while working them, and it threw my entire schedule off. I would get very little sleep. That is what it would mean.

True enough, too. I was not wrong about that. But I did manage to get a bit of a hike in. A short, and very unstrenuous hike, so as not to make my current issues with sciatica flare up again.

I managed a couple of hours of sleep after that, but then had to pick my son up from camp. It was hard to wake up fully, but somehow, I managed.

Now, usually, I make a point of at least trying to take him swimming at Wawayanda Lake on Mondays in summer time, but was hesitating yesterday. It was not that hot, I rationalized. Maybe next week, when I am not loaded with overtime.

Eventually, I was able to pull myself out of that rut, and bring him. Boy, was I glad I did, too!

For the last two or so years, my attempts to teach him how to swim had proven to lack any measure of success. We had signed him up for special classes, and he takes daily instructions in summer camp, to boot. Yet, it was all to no avail, because he still really did not know how to swim.

My frustrations had been mounting, because of this. But the last time that I had taken him to Wawayanda (almost two weeks ago), there had been some considerable progress. I had told him to float on his back, and concentrate on his breathing. Finally, this lesson seemed to resonate, and he had been able to float for maybe a full minute or two.

So, I had been wanting to follow up on this success, to make sure that the lesson was brought home. That was the main motivation for going swimming yesterday, specifically.

At first, he was being all goofy. He tends to always be in the mood to joke around, to laugh, and to be a little boy, which he is. But there are times when you need to get serious, and I lost my patience. He understood quickly that I meant business. Today was the day that I wanted him to learn, once and for all, how to swim.

There were things that I kept reiterating, trying to pound the point home by repetition. Concentrate on your breathing. Never panic. If you are in control of your breathing, there is nothing left to fear. Everything else will simply fall into place. So, just breathe. Whenever you feel the water closing in, rising on your face if you are floating on your back, take a deep breath, and you will rise again.

It worked. Much better, I might add, then ever before. He floated. Not for ten or twenty seconds, or even a minute. He floated for as long as he liked, and was able to move his arms around, so that he actually was moving. So he actually was swimming, if even on his back.

Next, I told him to do the same while facing front. I stood maybe fifteen feet (five metres) away, and told him to concentrate on his breathing. The first time, he fought. I could see it on the expression on his face. I told him to stop fighting. To simply relax, and remain in control. Breathe, and focus on the breathing. His technique improved, and he began to actually swim!

I was, and still am, so proud of him!

Then, we sat by the lakefront, which is truly idyllic. Beautiful. The weather could not have been more accommodating. And I managed to finish the book that I had been reading, "Norwegian by Night", by Derek B. Miller. It was one of the best books that I had read in years, and among the very finest books that I have actually ever read. More on that later, as I intend to write a blog about it in the near future.

So, things were going well at that point. But I still wanted him to read to me.

Last academic year, he had all sorts of problems at school. I could relate, because I was pretty much the same when younger. Too much energy, and an inability to channel all that excess energy in an appropriate or successful manner. It was getting in the way of everything. His behavior seemed to deteriorate, and so did his academic work. it was causing problems, to say the least. There were meetings.

Eventually, everyone felt that all options had been exhausted, and we looked into some prescriptions to calm him down. I was the last holdout, being rather vehemently opposed to it. But eventually, I yielded, as there seemed no other solution.

This was the beginning of the summer. As it turns out, maybe it was indeed for the best. His reading has improved, and not just by a little. It seems that he can read far, far better than he did really only weeks ago. He shows more confidence, and far more ability. He can read with fluidity, and he did it again last night, too. At the risk of sounding repetitive, I was so proud of him!

So, that's it! I realized that these kinds of days do not happen too often, so why not appreciate them when they are there to be appreciated? After all, sometimes, you get so bogged down with life, and the everyday stresses, that there seem to be little else. It all seems to be so stressful and annoying, and you cannot see any real signs of progress. Things always seem to be the same, one way or the other.

And then, you might get a day that, when you think about it later, just feels magical. I hesitate to use that word, because it sounds almost....well, silly. But there was recognition that yesterday possessed some very positive qualities to it that most days do not, and it feels necessary to express my gratitude, and to enjoy the moment while it lasts.