That sinking feeling…

Hiya to whoever is reading this,

As some of you may know, I have recently started rowing on the water and because of typical English weather, it has rained and been muddy every single time we’ve been out on the river! WHYWHWYWHWYWHY

Anyway, something happened out on the river today and it really reminded me why, even if it seems impossible, you have to keep going and make the best out of the cards you’ve been dealt.

The session started smoothly enough, the muddy 30minute run was not bad and I didn’t fall on my ass into the mud (thank goodness!) Carrying the boat out onto the bank was ok too, so far so good. It was my first time rowing out properly in the middle of the river and I was kinda nervous (and I’d forgotten how to row properly!!! You can probably see where this is going!). 

I was put in the Bow position (at the end of the boat) and before if had time to take my wellies off and put my feet into the straps, everyone else stared rowing, leaving me panicking as I wasn’t actually attached to the boat! 😱

I was in an octo (boat of 8) with the rest of my friends who have been doing rowing on the water for ages (unlike me).

To make matters worst, the coach told me and Bow 2 to start rowing and i’d forgotten how to row! I kept accidentally knocking the girl-in-front-of-me’s oars out of the water and kept tipping the boat!

Fear set in and all I could think about was how much of a dweeb I looked, and that the coach was staring at me like I’d lost my marbles!! I went bright red and felt like hiding  under my duvet and avoiding everyone else for the rest of my life. 

But hiding isn’t always a option, I had to try to get out of this mess myself, preferably without drowning whilst I was at it. I wedged my feet under the footplate in the boat and focussed on my friend’s technique, and slowly (many bloody cuts on my hands from the oars later) I got the hang of it and my previous one lessons worth of training kicked in.

Today was a real reminder for me that sometimes crying and giving up isn’t always an option and that by breathing and looking at the situation with a deep breath can help you get out of the mess. It also made me follow my own advice of keeping going, which was a rather lumpy but eventually satisfying medicine to swallow.

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Luv

GeorgieGrl

Xxx

P.S. I will post the awards and Q&A soon but we’ve been having power cuts and other problems which have got in the way!