The Swimming Pool of Life (31.3.14)

“The swimming pool of life sees it crowded at one end,

                                              sees it crowded around the edges,

                                              sees it crowded in the changing rooms,

                                              sees it crowded in the stands where the sitters and the watchers fill their days.

The swimming pool of life is the melting pot of conflicts,

                                            is the seesaw under water where one comes to the surface as the other is submerged,

                                            is the ladder of achievement as they choose to leave in satisfaction,

                                                                                          as they choose to scale the heights,

                                            is the pool of commitment as a diver leaves a plume,

                                            is the pool of faith where non-swimmers boldly enter under watchful eyes:

                                                                                                                       there to splash and kick and gasp.

The swimming pool of life caters as it demonstrates,

                                            wets all as it teaches,

                                            tires those without a passion as experience is gained.

The swimming pool of life echoes glee mixed with excitement,

                                            echoes skill without the splashing of beginners,

                                            echoes speed determined by a stopwatch,

                                            echoes judgment on success within a lane.

The swimming pool of life needs to be filled with water,

                                            needs to be sensitive to the temperature of location,

                                            needs to be sensitive to both size and scale,

                                            needs to be sensitive to numbers with intent,

                                            needs to be sensitive to the ease of both ingress and of egress,

                                            needs to be sensitive to inclement weather,

                                            needs to be sensitive to the needs of man.

The swimming pool of life has no current needing to be battled,

                                            has no net needing to be avoided,

                                            has no rocks waiting to impart an injury,

                                            has no ice ready to restrict,

                                            has no burden not able to be shared,

                                                                    not able to be shed,

                                                                    not able to be shunted to the side for attention.

The swimming pool of life does not bring death,

                                            does not know death,

                                            does not encounter death,

                                            does not encourage death,

                                            does not see the living wearing the death mask of today.

The swimming pool of life holds a healing lotion for the sick:

                                            is where the healer and the rescuer keep a very active watch,

                                            is where the toweller and the scrubber both have their days decided,

                                            is where the nurse and the doctor both know their charges and their queues,

                                            is where the wary and the frightened approach with stealth and suspicion,

                                            is where the grateful and the healed celebrate their cleanliness,

                                            is where the trysting and the loving discover the presence of an even greater love.

The swimming pool of life has hands held out in welcome,

                                            has hands waving to the time of unison,

                                            has tongues joining in the songs of unison,

                                            has lips extolling the virtues of living in unison of belief,

                                                                                                             of deed,

                                                                                                             of victory:

                                                                                                             of purpose well discovered.

The swimming pool of life is the meeting place of relatives,

                                            is the gathering point of friends,

                                            is the introductory setting from where acquaintances originate.

The swimming pool of life is not the place for wranglings underwater,

                                            is not the place to bind the hands and feet in place,

                                            is not the place where gags should be affixed,

                                            is not the place where costumes should be shed,

                                            is not the place for foolishness,

                                            is not the place for pity,

                                            is not the place for selfishness,

                                            is not the place for contamination of the water in which the swimmers need to swim.

The swimming pool of life is critical to success:

                                            drops the ideas with the thinkers,

                                            spreads the concepts among the developers,

                                            extends the dreams unto the architects,

                                            carries the builders into the arms of the constructors,

                                            calls the dreams of man into his reality of time.

The swimming pool of life hitches a free ride on the lifeboat of time –

                                   that which is static and not in need of launching,

                                   that which is designed to carry something of great significance:

                                                                                     something of resounding importance;

                                                                                     something which is not washed away;

                                                                                     something which outlasts the lifeboat within time;

                                                                                     something which improves with ageing in readiness for a destiny;

                                                                                     something which achieves the greatness for which it is designed.

The swimming pool of life knows its swimmers and its triallists,

                                                       its learners and its paddlers,

                                                       its sinkers and its floaters:

                                   those who are due for honouring and those who seek respect.

The swimming pool of life is filled with living water readied in preparation,

                                                                                      readied for the coming forth,

                                                                                      readied for the changing of a life either of servitude or of bondage,

                                                                                                                       either of weakness or of desperation,

                                                                                                                       either of separation or of loneliness.

The swimming pool of life succeeds in its objective –

                                                       to enhance the life of man:

                   that all may be uplifted to a higher level;

                   that the diving boards at height no longer impart fear;

                   that the scope of life is filled with promises in waiting –

                                                                                 are easily attained;

                                                                                 are significant and rewarding;

                                                                                 are seen as the ultimate game changers in their application to a life.”