Swimming Upstream

Swimming upstream. A difficult exercise for me. I’m not a strong swimmer at all. Don’t even like to dip my feet in the water.

Life is sometimes like a fish swimming upstream. It can feel like the world is going one way, and you the other, leaving only a sense of being lost, confused, direction-less.

Those times when I’ve felt like I’m going against the tide have been hard. It’s gruelling work, and exhausting to watch those around you float or simply be carried by life’s seemingly easy tide. I find that it becomes a battle within myself not to complain or whinge.

But what I’ve learnt in my years on this earth, is that no one has life figured out or that they have an easy stroll. The idiom, ‘Don’t judge someone until you’ve walked a mile in their shoes’ is a perfect reminder for me during those times when let myself wallow in misery over my less than perfect life.

My less than perfect life? Yes, it’s not perfect. But scratch away at the hardened exteriors of others, and neither is their life flawless. A family selling their home for ‘lack of space’ may indicate that they need distance from each other to keep the peace. A holiday abroad might be a last-ditch effort to hold a failing marriage together. An abundance of money in a bank account might mean a stingy gatekeeper, where one partner is kept cashless and constantly has to ask for money for basic requirements. Moving a family overseas can be the need for a fresh start, running from a discovered affair.

We never truly know what others are going through.

Personally, I don’t have it all worked out. Not even close. But my children, Hubster and I are healthy. We have a love, a roof over our heads, a comfortable existence, and good friends and extended family.

And that’s nothing to feel miserable over.

Photo by Ravi N Jha on Unsplash