Drowning in Three Feet of Water

In my adult life, I have found myself at many family holiday gatherings.  These are always times of reconnection and celebration, but I think, for my family anyway, it always comes down the swapping of stories from years gone by.  It would seem there were the classics for each person.  For me, hardly a family gathering goes by without mention of the Cancun incident of my childhood.  At that time, sunscreen really was not a thing.  So....this white girl from Chicago, after being parked near the equator for a few days ended up with sun poisoning.  It is a particularly nasty form of sunburn that causes an intense itching sensation and scratching only makes it worse and it burns like fire.  As a child, I maybe did not handle this well as I found myself on the beach doing some sort of uncoordinated dance similar to Elaine Bennis from Seinfeld, as I tried to cope with the total body sensation.  Now, understanding, unfortunately I am the youngest and the only girl which led to my brother's pointing and laughing.  I became annoyed and began uttering the phrase,"I itch".  Going forward, this would be known as the "I Itch Dance" and has literally provided decades of entertainment for my siblings who very thoughtfully taught their own sons the dance.

I suppose I could spend the time at family gatherings annoyed at the jokes at my expense, but the reality is, everyone has a story.  It really is equal opportunity.  One of my favorite stories involves an aunt who used to spend a great deal of time on Kentucky Lake with her siblings and children.  Here was the problem, that aunt did not know to swim.  One fateful hot July day in Kentucky, she found herself venturing out into the water to cool off.  Summers in Kentucky are humid and unbelievably hot at times. She went deeper and deeper until she got to the place that she was sitting down.  The water up to her chin.  Legend has it, in this moment, she suddenly realized she could not swim and began to panic...arms flailing, screaming for help... as her siblings began laughing at her and telling her to simply stand up.  The reality was, the water was all of 3 feet deep, she simply needed to put her feet down and stand.

As I reflect on this, I begin to wonder how many times we find ourselves drowning in the demands of life.  So many times life can come at us like a daunting wall of water with sudden changes like the loss of my mom this summer, or life altering diagnoses like one of my family members is going through.  There are the simpler things that build up on us too such as financial constraints, injury in the middle of race training or interpersonal issues.  Whatever it may be, we may find ourselves flailing around screaming for help.

I think the thing we fail to consider, is that often the water really isn't that deep and what we need to do is simply stand up.  Rise above the struggle and let it land right where it belongs, harmlessly splashing against our shins. This does not mean we minimize serious issues or ignore things, rather we focus on what lives above the water.  At Kentucky Lake, what lives above the shallow water is a wider view of clear blue with the reflection of bright sunshine, surrounded by tall pines and rich greenery only found in that area of the country.  Yes, some of the best views nature has to offer, all things that aunt would have missed by failing to stand and drowning in three feet of water.  So, this holiday season, maybe our challenge is to see what lives above the flailing in shallow water.  What views can we find beyond the struggle?  I suppose it is our job to simply stand up and look.  Rumor has it if you are patient and look hard enough at the Kentucky Lake you will see an eagle soar across the sky. 

One word of caution, though, while we are busy enjoying the view, and figuring out new ways to fly in the face of the trials of life, it may be best to employ some modern day sunscreen to avoid creating a dance move best left out of any dance party.