floating

I've always been afraid of water. I almost drowned a couple times when I was younger. Also, I've been told I've drowned in past lives which I'm not above believing. Mostly I find natural bodies of water like lakes, rivers, oceans- you know, water you can't see the bottom of- terrifying. It's not just a fear of not being able to breath, but some part deep inside of me knows that there are monsters in the water.
Yes, monsters.
Just recently I've been pushing that fear out of my life. I'm starting small; I moved into an apartment complex with a swimming pool and I've been kinda playing around in the water. Come to find out that I love it.
The realization that I can swim came as a shock. Okay, my swimming ain't pretty but I can keep afloat. What was more shocking was that I wasn't afraid of sinking. No fear- I felt so amazingly buoyant. Like I could tread water (I can tread water! Holy shit!) forever.
I could float forever.
...That statement reminds me a little of Pennywise in Stephen King's "It" but we'll move on...
There's something so liberating in this knowledge. It places my fear of water in its proper place. Behind me. It also makes me wonder what else I might find remarkably easy to do. What else I've been too afraid to face.

Beside water monsters, of course. Still afraid of those.