When I was younger I had to have tubes in my ears to drain fluid behind my ear drum. Because of that, for several years during my childhood, I couldn't get water in my ears. This prevented me from getting into a swimming pool until I was in 6th grade. Not being able to experience this caused a fear of the unknown.
I finally took swimming lessons in the 6th grade and loved being in the pool, BUT didn't like putting my face in the water and definitely not under water. The day came for us to move from the shallow end (3 feet deep) to the deep end (12 feet deep.) To get into the deep end we had to jump off the diving board to our instructor below. I climbed up onto the board, looked down, stood for a few moments, and then climbed back down. Even though I trusted my instructor, and ALL the other kids jumped. I wasn't jumping.
The weeks of lesson ended without me going into the deep end. The next summer I took the lessons again, and climbed off the board without visiting the deep end. For years I have watched my friends, do back flips, belly flops, and canon balls, but to this day I have yet to jump off a diving board I will go into the deep end....if no one else is in the pool and I can stay close to the sides in the event something tries to get me.
This summer, our family took a vacation to Ft. Walton, FL. I love the beach, and I actually enjoy getting in the ocean....as long as I can stand up. In an effort to remove their fear of water, I tried to take my girls into the ocean and the deeper end (5ft deep) of the pool.
What I found in the process is that my girls DID NOT enjoy it at first. They wanted no part of it. In fact Ella would squeeze her arms around my neck, pin her legs around my waist and scream "NO DON"T TAKE ME." Most strangers probably thought I was weird guy kidnapping a child. My wife finally made me stop in embarrassment. The next day and a few tries later, I was eventually able to get Ella into the deeper end of the pool. She had to stay close to the edge and I had to stay close to her as well. But at least she went. I worked with Addison the same way. She got to the point that I didn't have to hold on to her. I let her go and float on her own...with the arm floaties that is. I will continue to do this every time we get in a pool, because I don't want them to miss out on the things, and wrestle with the insecurities I have about swimming and deep water.
Yesterday I heard Rick Warren say that we have to move toward what we are afraid of in order to overcome that fear. Mark Batterson says that overcoming a fear is much like a vaccine. We have to have a little bit of it at a time to build up our immunity to it. Eventually that that you feared most you may actually come to enjoy.
To overcome a fear sometimes you will:
1. Need someone to push/pull you into an uncomfortable situation.
Naturally you will walk, run, and stay away from anything that you are afraid of. It will take someone to dare or challenge you to go deeper. My 6 and 2 year old would not go into the deep end by themselves. It took me pulling them there, even against their own will. Jesus has a tendency of putting people in our life to do that. He wants us to live the best life possible, and doing so means getting us out of our comfort zone.
2. Need to trust the people you are with.
Obviously as their father, there is a natural level of trust that my girls have with me. There needs to be a good level of trust had with the person who is pulling/pushing you to go deeper. In addition,we need to trust our Heavenly Father, knowing that he has us in His arms.
3. Need to keep facing that fear.
It may take facing that fear more than one time. A vaccine may take two or three rounds before it is complete. Fear has a way of creeping back up on us. Consistently going back into the deep end reminds us that it isn't as bad as what we thought and builds our knowledge base of the situation and what we can realistically expect..
Don't let a fear keep you content in the kiddy pool. I'm not.....one day I WILL jump of that diving board.
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