So, I'm a triathlete. I haven't always been a triathlete. In fact, for most of my life I considered myself a runner. Even after I started doing triathlons I considered myself a runner who did triathlons. But, now I'm starting to see myself as a triathlete.
Since running was my background it always seemed to come easy to me. And biking, while I might not be the fastest guy out there, is something I've done since I was a child. I suppose I've been swimming since I was a child too, but there's something far different from "swimming" in a pool to swimming in a triathlon.
As I've worked on these three disciplines over the years - swimming, biking, and running - I've worked particularly hard at becoming a more efficient swimmer. Swimming deals with a lot of resistance. Water is far more dense than air. Therefore, if you can get through the water in a more efficient manner, then not only do you swim faster, but you have more energy for the biking and running as well.
Over the last several weeks I've had several occasions when I've swam the same distance at the same speed using fewer strokes. This might not seem like a big deal to you, but it was HUGE to me! The thing is, I didn't just wake up that morning as a better swimmer. But as my body learned to position itself slightly different it all came together to help me swim more free.
Driving home from the pool I thought about how that can be so similar to life. Sometimes life presents a lot of resistance, but, when we position ourselves in such a way that God can work within us we can know what it means to live free. And that is a wonderful thing.
