Swan Diving Tips

(Small watercolor study)

Summer time is fast approaching, bringing the sounds of splashes as divers of all ages jump off rocks or diving boards into deep water under the warm sun.  A significant comparison exists between an actual swan diving and a human performing a swan dive. If you've seen swans dive, all that occurs is their rear end raises up above water while their upper body disappears below the water surface.  A bit inelegant for such a beautiful bird.  But if you've watched Olympic divers executing breath-taking maneuvers and flawless entries into the water, you see a display of finesse, art, power, and supreme focus.  

For most of us, bobbing along with our heads under water and all else above is not in the category of difficult.  But when you witness the flawless execution of Olympic perfection in the human body, you are seeing a combination of certain elements that enable such beauty in form and movement.

What are those key elements?  They are persistence, practice, perfecting the fundamentals, keen awareness, and staying focused. Then those elements are repeated over and over again.  These key elements are not only necessary for an Olympic diver doing the swan dive, but for any one of us who desires to develop our lives in a flourishing trajectory that makes a difference for ourselves and others.

So step off that diving board or edge of the cliff.  Take a deep breath. And dive.  Again and again and again.  With persistence, improvement, awareness, and focus.  

          

The Apostle Paul encourages us to "Give your complete attention to these matters. Throw yourself into your tasks so that everyone will see your progress."  To "throw yourself" entails being in these things, practicing, advancing, growing, and exercising yourself in your tasks.  It is to be devoted and absorbed in them.  Beauty and grace will adorn your life, like an elegantly executed swan dive!

Live bravely and beautifully!