What a lot of trust it takes to head in to the water backwards and head over heels, unable to see where you will land until you are already there! Trust comes from having put in the practice to know that your body is capable of what you are trying to do. Faith comes from knowing that whatever you do, the water will always receive you.
In what do you put your faith?
Funny, a backflip is a very powerful image for me. As an adult, I learned to do a backflip. I remember hearing the lifeguard telling me “Throw your arms and your body will follow”. IT WORKED!!!(it wasn’t pretty, but it worked).
At the time, I had two small children and a dead, dysfunctional, abusive marriage that I was scared to leave. After learning to do the backflip, I decided to commit to the process of divorcing and let the rest unfold.
The lesson for me was that trying to solve every possible permutation of problems that might arise was an unproductive diversion Once I moved forward into the unknown, I was able to deal with the real issues as they came up. Even though I was in unfamiliar territory, I was more in control than I thought. The preoccupation with trying to anticipate problems just kept me from dealing with the present circumstances. I was essentially absent for me and my children.
My divorce, that I thought would be horrific, turned out to be very civil. All that hand-ringing was not the bravery I thought it was. Learning to bank on my strengths was a hard lesson for me to learn.