Some Days are Like That, Even in Australia

When I was a little girl, one of my favorite books was Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good Very Bad Day.  It chronicles a very bad day in young Alexander's life; he wakes up with last night's gum in his hair and everything goes downhill from there.  Alexander's response to this terrible, horrible, no good, very bad day is simple, "I think I'll move to Australia." Eventually, though trials and tribulations, Alexander learns that "some days are like that, even in Australia." This book is one of my favorites because I can totally relate, there are just some days that make me want to go back to bed, or to Australia---anywhere it might be better. 

I had such a day at practice on Sunday.  It started off alright, but I knew I had to leave at a certain time so I was a little stressed out.  In the water, things also started alright; we swam north for a mile and while I wasn't at the front of the group, I felt strong and comfortable. On the way back, however, the current started flowing north fast, in the opposite direction of where I was headed. Swimming against a current like that is frustrating and exhausting. After a while it was like swimming on a treadmill, pushing and pushing, pulling and kicking, getting nowhere... and then, I freaked out. 

Maybe it was the fact that I knew I needed to leave by 11. Maybe it was the fact that I had forgotten to eat breakfast. Maybe it was just a terrible, horrible, no good very bad swim. Whatever the cause, I started to cry and then I started to panic. My coach cheered me on and I tried to keep going, but my heart was racing and I couldn't catch my breath and while I knew that this was just a panic attack, a stupid fight or flight response in over-drive, I couldn't make it stop.  Eventually, I had to be towed by the kayak about 2/10ths of a mile back to the cove where I finished my swim. I wanted him to drop me off in Australia. I was embarrassed and ashamed. 

Looking back I realized that as much as that sucked (and trust me, it was Chock Full O' Suck), I wasn't alone. I had a coach who never let me give up on myself. I had a kayaker there to bring me back to safety. I had teammates cheering me on as I came in.  The wonderful thing about the Hudson River Swim for Life Team is that we are never alone, we have one another's backs. 

And we have the backs of those fighting blood cancers.  I may have had a terrible, horrible, no good, very bad swim, but it is nothing like what those we swim for face every day. One person in the United States is diagnosed with a blood cancer approximately every four minutes. Terrible, horrible, no good very bad day, doesn't begin to cover it.  We swim to help find treatments and cures to increase the number of healthy, joyful, cancer-free days for those patients and their families. Please join me in having their backs.  If you can, please donate now to the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society.

...and remember, some days are like that, even in Australia. 

*Illustration from Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day, by Judith Viorst