Eye contact

Today I didn't do so well. My coach said that he wasn't disappointed with my swim, but frustrated with me. He sees so much more in all of us swimmers here in Omaha, but we don't see it in ourselves. We're swimming at the pool that will be used for Olympic Trials in early July. There are olympians here. There are some of the world's fastest swimmers here. And on the record board I'm used to seeing the state record, or maybe even the conference record. But now? It's the world record. Instead of being tenths away from the records, I'm seconds. I feel like a fish out of the water. I don't think I belong on this deck. My coach wants me to know and believe that I do. The guy in the grey hoodie is Michael Phelps. One of the great titans in swimming. I warmed up in the same pool as him, swam in the same pool. I forgot my camera, so you'll have to be satisfied with the grainy picture taken with Jen's cell phone. But often I was literally only feet away from him.
And I learned something today. It's high time I realize that I do belong on the same deck as famous olympians. Michael Phelps isn't a dolphin. He doesn't have gills. Sure, he has this perfectly portioned body for swimming (Long torso, huge armspan, short legs), but that alone didn't get him to where he is.
I've seen him so many times on tv, and he seemed immortal, unbeatable. There is no way I could get to where he is. As he was stretching before one of his events, he sat down in a chair and happened to look straight at me in the audience (it helped I was only 15 feet away). Then I realized.

He may be impossibly fast, water his realm. But his attitude, his dream, his confidence in himself is what got him to where he is.

But looking at him, watching him, you realize that he is, in fact, human. He has his triumphs and disappointments like all of us. It's how he reacts to those disappointments, how he moves on and improves that makes him better.

I need to take that attitude. I'm going to walk on deck tomorrow, and I'm going to know I belong here with the olympians. I have potential. I just need to believe in myself, to dream, and then achieve.

But first, I need to believe.

Believe.