Water Aerobics Changed Who I Am (and it wasn’t because of the exercises)

In June, I took a vacation to Palm Springs and stayed at the Historic Tennis Club Resort. I’ve been going there ever since I was born. Famously, the adult pool was a desert hotspot for classic stars like Lucille Ball and Marilyn Monroe back in its prime. And now, I get to enjoy the beauty of it too.

One of my goals for this trip was to do water aerobics. This is an easy goal, but the mental chatter around it started to get louder.

The water was way too warm to be refreshing (thank you 112 degree heat!), there were other hotel guests who were quietly lounging on the chairs and in the pool, and the pool is directly in view of an upscale restaurant that’s proudly got three dollar signs next to it’s Google description. All I’m thinking about is how noisy, disruptive, and weird I’m going to look as I do this exercise for the next 20 minutes in this historic location.

Despite the mental chatter, I set up my phone and pressed play. I whirled water back and forth with my arms, kicked my legs as I held onto the wall, and made waves by doing jumping jacks. I’ve never been more proud of myself for such simple acts.

It wasn’t the fact that I got a good workout in. I was proud because I followed through on something I wanted to do despite that fact that people could be judging me. What allowed me to go through that uncomfortable experience was the belief that I am allowed to take up space and that this action is something my future self would unapologetically do. If I wanted to eventually be her, I had to overcome the discomfort of this now and take action anyways.

Also, as my best friend hilariously pointed out, “If people feel comfortable drinking and acting a fool by a pool, you can feel comfortable taking care of your heath in one.” I ended up fitting in two more water workouts over the course of my trip. It got easier to show up for each one of them and feel comfortable owning who I am.

Now, whenever I want to hold back on a comment, judge my ideas as being dumb, or believe my voice doesn’t matter, I think back to that pool and it gives me the extra dose of courage to follow through.

May this simple story be your nudge and reminder that one small act as your future self can be the exact fuel that helps you be that way more consistently. How do you want to show up today?