Dare to Dream, Mom?
It was A again. He loves to fix me on a challenge date. While he defeats me in Chess, I win the Scrabbles board. He will run and I walk. We often challenge ourselves with some tasks and kill the boredom. So, today, it was yet another challenging day for me. It was a nail biting moment. God forbids him from remembering my weakness. He took no time to think. Swimming! Giggled A as he playfully ran his fingers through his curly hair. “Nooooooooo.. You cannot do this to me for you know that I dread water”, I shrieked in a high voice. “A dare is a dare, either dare my challenge or accept your defeat,” A, sounded calm but firm. I did not take a chance to show myself weak, why would I? I accepted his dare thus forcing me to learn the basic swimming course within a month and prove myself on the Women’s day.
I could have let Go the EGO and accept the Defeat easily, after all he is my son and I am not going to lose anything to him. Why did I accept the dare knowing my fear for water? My mind kept flashing back to the past memories. Few years before, we holidayed at a waterpark resort in Malaysia, widely known for its longest and highest water slides. K and A were professional swimmers and I was the odd man out. I was searching for the poolside Lounger to settle with my favourite book “The Immortals of Meluha”. (Well, that is what I do when I accompany them to the swimming pool on weekends. They would forcibly invite me to watch their water workout until I fume with anger because, I the moment I dive into the pool, I would sink deep) K locked the valuables in the safety vault and dragged me to the slide. Both convinced me to join them and I finally agreed. We followed one by one while sliding. It was really fun and I enjoyed the ride until I drowned into the pool. Although the water level was not deep, I had difficulty to raise my body and swim up. I could feel the darkness around me and I thought, that was the last day of my life. I cried for help raising my hands up. Meanwhile A and K became suspicious about me missing as we followed the back of each other. Perhaps they saw me waving for help. Without wasting a minute A dived into the pool and dragged me up. I rest my case on swimming and decided never to think about it. Well, let’s get back to my moment. I still had a chance to admit my defeat and escape the dare which I did not want to. As a frequent flyer, chances of flight accidents were common, and K always insisted me to learn swimming for good reasons. I had the regrets of not being able to swim. Today, I am destined to learn it for a dare. I confidently signed up for the swimming lessons with a female instructor and learnt the basic swimming skills. I was amazed by the way my body floated on top of the water after two weeks of intense water drills. There was no turning back since then. I decided to master the skills after my dare challenge and I did it. I think it was a combination of knowing I was smart (although lacking confidence), and being married to someone who believed me. I have no regrets about the Dare, but a sense of gratitude to the boys for instilling the Confidence in me to dare the challenge thus being able to learn yet another skill in my midlife.
I love the way A Demanded me for the dare. Demanding your loved ones is always a fair game. I demand the Love from them when I feel I am being Unnoticed. I demand the Respect from them if they need it back as a return gift. Here, there is a difference between the former and the later. If I hesitate to demand in the former, the gap will be worsened day by day. If I do not demand in the second one, my Self-respect will be at stake.
I love playing the Devil’s Advocate with the boys on a healthy argument. Mostly the boys form a team and I play alone. Being two, and especially boys, they agree on everything. To win the argument, I can always play the devil’s advocate as I never feel guilty to Exaggerate or be Exaggerated.
On a final note, I bring you three of my favourite quotes of Maya Angelou.
Image : Source
- When someone shows you who they are, believe them the first time.
- There is no greater agony than bearing an untold story inside you.
- If you are always trying to be normal you will never know how amazing you can be.
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Welcome to syncwithdeep! I am not a prolific blogger. My blog is just 1 month old. I love memories and that was one of my reasons to come up with blogging. I don’t have a niche as I love to write on anything that appeals to me. This is my first year with #BlogchatterA2Z #ATOZChallenge and I have taken up the category woman themed at 40. In a couple of months, I am going to set my foot on 40s, the descending hill. I am sharing on my perspective how this transition is going to transform me in the nearing future. This is absolutely my Personal Experience. I would be glad if you spam me with your comments, whether you agree or disagree. That way, I can know how you welcome your 40s. Stay tuned with me every day to know how I am coping with my 40s.
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#BlogchatterA2Z #AtoZChallenge #AtoZ #woman #feminism #daretodream
Yes, a phenomenal woman – that’s you 🙂
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Thank you so much Liz.. U made my day with a lovely comment. Have a nice day 🙂
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You’re welcome 🙂 Have a great day!
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Have u checked your mail?
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Checking…
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A challenge could be accepted by letting go the ego. As I see, ego is defeat and dare lies in letting go of ego. Egolessness is the state of absolute fearlessness. Dare to go beyond fear. I guess this much philosophy is enough for today.
Now come to the part of relationship. You beautifully presented the secret to a successful relationship and loved your connotation of ‘Demanding.’ Normally the word is used in negative sense in relationship, like demanding wife. And last but not the least, Phenomenal Woman is one of my favourite poem.
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Ravish, thank you so much for
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Love the way you have narrated your fear and the saga of overcoming them. Good on you in letting go and learn something new. That’s commendable.
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Love the quotes. Maya Angelou has wisdom beyond one lifetime
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Ravish, thank you so much for the comments.
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Daring to dream and then going through the ups and downs to achieve it is what life is all about. Love the way you articulate. You could again drop by https://sukrisblog.wordpress.com/2018/04/04/1946/ …
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Lovely read early morning.
Tongue Twister for D
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What a great post. I’m so impressed that you mastered swimming and I love how families dare you to fulfill the potential of what you can be.
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Thank you Kat. They have always been an extended support to me in my life. I always have an angel blessing me somewhere.. thanful indeed. and thanks for the lovely comments. have a nice day:)
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That’s me!! My daughter is a competitive swimmer. One day I tried to correct her stroke and gave her a lecture on how she needs to work on her timings . She snapped back, Mom you don’t know how to swim and you got scared of water when you were young and gave up. I learnt when I was 3 years old. That hit me. She was right. She is far more confident and a good swimmer. I can’t be a poor example for her. I had to show her that giving up is not the right thing to do. Kids observe us and learn and imitate us too. That’s when I shun al my inhibitions and learnt to swim. Now she is proud of me. And yes I can get back to lecturing her too. 😉
So Dare to dream always!
I am also now learning Kathak as that is also something I gave up when I was young. You can read my post D is For Dance today.
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wow. we synced in a way then. thanks for dropping by aesha.
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I have this unknown fear of swimming too and had taken it up once when I was very young but gave up after a month. I have decided to fight my inner devils and plunge into the water again . Killing ones fears is very important and though our dear ones can motivate us by being “ demanding” a
Of it is up to us.
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Thanks Aks for dropping by, As i said, we frequently fly and it is always good to know swimming as a life saving exercise. beyond that it helps to keep you energized. I loved the demand from K as it was a demand out of love. thanks for the comments and do try your hand on swimming again.
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So glad you took up the dare, Deepa. I fear water, despite having learnt the basics of swimming. Reading your post has made me want to take it up again.
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thank you mayuri.. i am glad this dare post dared you to rethink of taking up swimming again. thanks for dropping by 🙂
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Me and my son also play this dare game. It is always good to face your fears. Nice post Deep.
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thank you balaka 🙂 thanks for dropping by.
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Keeping your ego aside and accepting challenges is a great start. Doing something that scares you successfully is one of the best feelings in life. Embracing challenges and moving forward is a great lesson that all of us should take up on a regular basis. Great article about you overcoming the fear of swimming is inspiring.
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Thank you so much for the detailed comments. I am glad you accepted and repleid beautifully for the changes and dared me with your detailed comments. have a good day 🙂
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Learning new things at an older age is difficult. Glad taking up a dare worked out in you learning to swim. Once you learn it, isnt it the best recreation as well as exercise?
And Maya Angelou is one of my favourite poets
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thanks Namratha for the comments.
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Aha! That’s so wonderful. Love that you accepted the dare from the little one and overcame your fear and ego. Great going!!
5 Reasons to Keep a Travel Diary #AtoZChallenge
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Shilpa, I commented on your post today early morning. Let me know if u did not recv it. Thanks a lot for dropping by 🙂
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Concurring your fears, though how small it may sound to the outside world, is an accomplishment.
Cheers to you 🙂
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Thank you rashmi for dropping by with a sweet comment.
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So glad you took up the dare, Deepa! Though I had learnt swimming once years ago, I have forgotten, lack of practice. Your post dares me to take it up again. 😉
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Thank you 🙂 go for it and you will enjoy.
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I sure will…that’s one of my to-do things before I turn 40.
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I am scared of water too, so can completely empathise. Good write!
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Thank you lavanya
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Love how you narrated. Good that you took up the dare 🙂 It isn’t easy to start swimming (learn) but once you do, you get by and never drown (mentally :D)
D is Dumbfounded – Love is not my need
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A suspense filled story. Who will ananya chose and why.. Whay will be the other mans reaction when she choses one and leaves the other.. I wait till tomorrow. Excellently narrated shweta
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Looking straight into the eyes of the fear is possible with a bolster from the loved ones. Loved this honest post Deepa.
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Thanks anagha.
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So true … we always demand the best of themselves from the ones we love. Phenomenal Woman is among my favorite poems – she affirms her own identity with such boldness … it’s always left me with goosebumps.
Do check out my #BlogchatterA2Z entry – https://lonelycanopyblog.wordpress.com/2018/04/03/dow-hill-haunted-house-spirits-of-kurseong/
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We usually think that as parents we teach our kids, but it’s really amazing that sometimes they teach us the most important life lessons
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If you are always trying to be normal, you will never know how amazing you are! Perfect. I love this quote and also believe in it completely. Only if we dare ourselves we will be able to do something new.
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Thank you Deepa for the lovely comments.
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Woooowwwww!! You are the phenomenal woman for me. You are really taking life on a stride, am sure your posts would be a great source of inspiration for all woman who are reaching their 40’s. Keep writing for your fans.
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Puja.. I am flat now. Just feeling like an icing sugar.. I have decided to own my life. That’s what i am doing puja. Nothing great. Thanks for your lovely comments. I will drop by to your post and leave my comments tomorrow. Have a nice day !
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Well done on leaving your comfort zone, especially after a bad experience like that with the slides. You’re truly courageous!
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Thanks andi:)
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Love the way you put the words together. I like your Bio very much.
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🙂
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It’s really courageous to come out of fear and dare to dream, lovely written
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Thank you Richie 🙂
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Another beautiful post from your series Deepa. You are a rock star and I am looking up-to all your posts in this series.
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Thank you dipika for the lovely note. I dont deserve such big words. This series, so far i am sharing my personal. Hope to do the remaining too..
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