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| Life can be messy, but don't lose sleep over that |
Day 166
This morning, in the pool's slow lane (did 32 lengths/25m pool), all my fellow swimmers were happy. At least, they all smiled and exchanged cheerful greetings with me, and each other, whenever we stopped for a breather. Two of them were pensioners, one was a fit, young family man whose impressive six pack belied the fact that he was the father of a 19-year old, another a middle aged woman recovering from major operations on her arthritic knees.
I'd cycled there feeling inadequate and anxious. A review I'd written last night to meet a 9am deadline seemed banal and a bit of a copout, family life and financial life were continuing to give cause for concern, and my decision to go for a swim felt like selfish procrastination.
When I talk to strangers about their lives, however, I'm instantly filled with curiosity. I ask many questions. The elderly couple told me they walked a mile to the pool every morning, then swam as many lengths as they could manage in an hour. The arthritic woman told me about her teacher daughter who'd moved in for reasons of childcare and saving for a mortgage. She also regaled me with tales of her big house in Carcassonne, which she's been slowly making habitable for five years. She also told me that Limoux is so much nicer than Champagne. I like it that we had this conversation while stark naked. smiling, laughing, battlescarred grandparents (soon to be, in my case). We had a belly laugh and our bellies wobbled. I felt so much better for my hour at the pool.
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