Just Keep Swimming
“Go Lawrence, go!” we yelled from our wooden raft docked in the lake. My little brother has been trying to learn how to swim and somehow always manages to sink to the bottom. Yesterday, he dove under the water and swam all the way from the safety of the shore to our raft in the middle of the lake. As I watched him struggle to stay afloat, arms flailing side to side, I thought about how scared he must have been at that moment. His little legs could no longer reach the safety of the sand under his toes. His lungs gasping for as much air as possible. Each stroke was moving him closer and closer to the safety of the raft. As we were yelling for Lawrence to “just swim” to us. I thought back on how much courage that must have taken him. It seems like such an easy task to most of us, but learning how to swim is probably one of the scariest development challenges. Lawrence had to not only trust in his abilities, but he also had to trust that his family waiting for him on the raft would