Dear LPG,

I recently read something on your pages which got me thinking. It was an article aimed at inspiring readers to look back at their lives without missing out the details of the things that they would like to have done but have not yet got around to.

It is also good to take a look at all the things that we have achieved and feel a sense of pride, but there is no point in resting on our laurels after completing that very gratifying mental exercise.

We all have one or two ambitions that we have not yet accomplished haven’t we?   Age, health and other variables will have made some of those aspirations somewhat unobtainable for many of us pensioners.  If you were an infant school-aged child with dreams of being an astronaut, a pilot or an actress, it is now very easy to find yourself accepting that you have missed the boat.

One of the many things I never managed to master over the years was learning how to swim.   I spent as much time being taught as most other children but for all the arm flapping and leg kicking I have ever done; it is a skill that has escaped my mental and physical grasp so far.     

I spent a lot of time thinking about another attempt at starting from scratch, although two things held me back.  The thought of my sagging muscles piled into any swimming costume is something I think it is unfair to inflict on anyone else’s line of vision, while still being stuck down at the shallow end of the pool at my time of life while allowing everybody around me to be aware of something I still can’t do, I also find somewhat off-putting.

Just when I was about to put those inhibitions aside, the ultimate reason for putting it all off again kept me away for another two years but I hope that we are all getting to the stage where Covid-19 will not be an excuse to put anything off for much longer.  Lessons at the local pool are something that I hope will resurface as we get back to normal and even if I never learn, playing about in the water can only improve my confidence and get my muscles a bit more exercised.

Did you know that a third of UK adults still can’t swim?  It must have been watching the recent Olympic swimmers, or finding the online article that I hope LPG has left a link for, that has nudged these thoughts in me again.  I read a long time ago that swimming is the ultimate full body workout available and so as old as I am, I plan to get back into the water as soon as it is safe to have another go, and I advise readers to get brave and follow suit.

DP, Lewisham

DP shares an article or two…

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LPG thought it appropriate to offer readers the opportunity to mention a way that readers might be able to help keep one local swimming pool open…

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