Swimsuit Season Sighs

Someone contacted me this week to teach aqua fitness at their neighborhood pool. Although I'm looking forward to the opportunity, I'm also dreading it. This means I have to go find a suit. I'll dig through the racks at Dillards looking for something that sucks me in, covers my stretch marks, lifts me up, and isn't black, or blue floral with a skirt.

I look forward to this as much as I look forward to having cavities filled. Nevertheless, I'm gonna literally "suck it up" and get the job done. And while I'm at it, I'll do some extra abdominal exercises.

Why? Because I want to swim. I want to be in pools. I want to flop around in the water. If I don't buy a swimsuit because I hate the way I look in one, I'll spend this summer on the sidelines (and I have spent many summers that way because I didn't want my cellulite out in public).

I come back to this again and again--often the only thing in the way of us enjoying our lives is our mind. Fear of how others will see us morphs from butterflies in the stomach to a solid brick wall. What three things would you do if you were rich, thin and beautiful right this very minute? Are there actual real-world barriers to doing what you want--or are you the only obstacle to your own best life?

I'm not advocating racking up credit card debt or squeezing into too-small pants (spare me the muffin-tops, please!) But most of our delusions aren't of grandeur--they are misplaced fears, usually involving what we imagine other people think about us.

Take a risk this week. Eat a new food. Buy hot pink instead of basic black. Fearlessness is a practice--so practice.