The Power of The Mind

The first time I recognised the power of the mind, I was just 5 years old.?

I used to be afraid of the water - something that’s provided plenty of content for family jokes ever since!?Images of a younger me donned in armbands AND a rubber ring (oh yeah, there was no way I was trusting just one inflatable device!), only to barely paddle in the shallows, regularly get aired and laughed about!

It was during the summer holidays when my older brother and I were invited to go swimming with our friends and their Mum, who lived a few doors away.?Knowing my fears, the Mum helped me to blow up and put on my armbands, making sure I felt completely safe and secure before I climbed down the steps and join the others in the pool.?The 5 of us were playing in the shallow end, ‘catch’ with a ball and chasing each other ‘Jaws’ style, and other such games. We were having so much fun, paying no attention to the time flying by, when all of a sudden I caught a glimpse of my right armband out of the corner of my eye.?

It was flat! My armband had deflated!?Oh my God, I was going to drown!!?Help!!

All this was mostly going on in my head, although I obviously called something out loud as the Mum was by my side in a flash.?Rather than responding in a flap, making rushed attempts to re-inflate it, she said these magic words, which had such a huge impact on my 5yr old brain:

“Oh wow, you’ve been swimming and playing all this time without it and didn’t even notice!?Aren’t you brave and clever!?You obviously don’t need those anymore.”

I remember the almost instant change in my mind.?Gone was the panic, the fear of instant death by swallowing the entire pool.?Instead, I felt amazed at what I’d done.?I looked at the big clock on the wall and realised we’d been jumping around, swimming and diving about for over half an hour – and I’d survived with only 1 armband!?I was pretty proud of myself too and when the Mum suggested I took the other one off as well, after a moment’s hesitation, I thought “Why not??I’ve managed this far with only one!”?

And from that moment on, my love of the water grew and grew.?When we started swimming lessons at school the following term, I went from starting in the lowest Red group to attaining my White badge within the first year (the one where you swim so many lengths in your pyjamas and then have to dive into the deep end to retrieve a rubber brick) – together with my name being added to the shield awarded at our school to the Best Improved Swimmer each year!?My family thought I was playing a joke on them at first, when came home with that!

Being in the water, especially a clear blue sea, is now my absolute favourite place to be in the world.?It’s quite ironic how it went from being something that represented huge irrational fear, to being where I find complete balance and peace.?To me, there’s no greater sensation than the freedom I feel, floating in the waves, the sun on my face and the expansiveness of the sky and sea around me, allowing me to empty my mind and reconnect with my soul.

“Whatever the mind can conceive and believe, it can achieve”. Napoleon Hill

I’m not sure where that early fear of the water came from, other than potentially inheriting it from others. ?However, I’ve since gone on to help hundreds of others to use the power of their minds to overcome their own fears and achieve amazing successes, that previously had felt like unreachable dreams.?From fears of heights to public speaking, and performing a difficult somersault by a national-level gymnast, I never cease to be amazed at the connection between the mind and body and how we can either allow it to restrict us or harness it to empower us to amazing feats!