Just keep swimming

I will always remember Dory, the adorable, absent minded and forgetful fish from Finding Nemo who helped Nemo's dad, Marlin find Nemo. They went through a whole lot of adventures, fun, scary and sad, to find Nemo and it was one of my favourite computer-animated adventure film produced by Pixar Animation Studios and released by Walt Disney Pictures (source).

“Just keep swimming”, my favourite quote by Dory and not surprisingly, it continues to be one of the most motivating quotes that I say to myself in times of stillness and in times when I felt like giving up, felt like quitting. It has helped me to keep moving, to keep going. It has helped me to move on, to move forward when I find myself stuck - stuck in motion, stuck in thoughts, stuck in action. I think of it as a life mantra sometimes.

For example, when I swim, when I do my laps, I do get bored with the repetitive strokes. It is the same thing over and over again for each lap, to and fro and to and fro. This to me, is the best time to think about Dory’s words and it helps wonderfully. I would talk to myself, sing to myself, telling myself that I am toning my muscles, that I am training for a happy heart and that I am getting a nice tan from the sun. I find that talking positively to self is a great way to keep moving and much thanks to Dory’s quote, I would keep going, keep swimming.

Every other day when I do my not-exactly-yoga-stretches, I would use this quote too. In between the stretches, I would do half push ups because I don’t have the strength to go all the way down. The thing with working out is that the physical body would sometimes play tricks with the mind. In the midst of it, the physical body would want to quit and stop.

But if in my head, I tell myself to just keep going, that I can do it, if I tell myself just a little bit more, just a few more rounds, just sweat a little more for a healthier me, my physical body could actually go on for that few more rounds. And quite surprisingly, I would be more pumped up for that additional few rounds and at the end of it, it would feel really good to do that few extra rounds.

The same goes with jogging. Jogging requires a certain method of breathing so as to not go out of breath. When I start jogging, there is a point that I would need to reach and get past, to be able to reach a point of controlled breathing. The time taken for the breathing to stabilize can take between ten to fifteen minutes. But to reach that point, it can take quite an effort. This is another good situation for this mantra to just keep swimming or jogging in this case.

There are times too when it gets a little lonely, when I don't get what I had hoped for, whether it is some form of support or some kind of reaction or when I have secrets that I can't share with others. Everything is cooped up and all I can do is to keep it all within myself. Sometimes, it is inevitable. The thought of quitting, of giving up would come and there is no way of stopping it nor is it preventable. It can turn up any time, anywhere, and anyhow.

There are times that I could be having the best time of my life and suddenly, poop, the thought turns up. There is no telling when or why, there is usually a trigger point, something I do not realize and when it comes, I am pretty much stuck. Nothing moves, and sometimes can be thought of as a form of depression but I do not wish to go there. I would try to remember Dory.

The quote may not necessarily work every time but it is worth a try. In times when there is no direction, and it feels like we are just going through the daily motion like a robot, and when things get boring, it is a good quote to tell myself. Just keep swimming until I find something new, something different or something better.

In times I needed to hang on, to keep going while waiting for something better or while waiting for something to happen or for something to come. When the light at the end of the tunnel looks bleak or seemed dark, but I know that I still need to go on, to keep moving, to keep working. The only way to to do that, to push myself forward is to tell myself to just keep swimming.