As a child, I remember watching Disney's "The Little Mermaid" and being amazed by the brute strength of water, dreaming and visualizing myself as a mermaid. . My first swimming lesson started shortly after. The fear that gripped my heart, linked to my childhood dream, motivated me to enter, and when I did, a kind of survival instinct kicked in. Arms and legs were flailing everywhere, I kept my head above water. When my trainer helped me and motioned for me to calm down, I realized my feet could touch the floor of the kiddie pool. That day I learned my first lesson. Every problem can be solved with a calm mind. Since then, swimming has become part of my life as a sport. In this essay, I want to share some life lessons I learned while swimming. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on “Why violent video games should not be banned”? Get the original essay Our fears are just self-created illusions At the age of seven, I started participating in races in club. There was a girl who was my biggest competition. I saw her as an extraordinary swimmer. At first she was winning, but little by little I started winning. It was a learning curve for me, a healthy competition where we cheered for the winners and most importantly, that same girl who was a competitor for me back then is my best friend now and forever. I learned to compete with true sportsmanship and it gave me a greater sense of true connection. In 2014, I broke my leg while ice skating and was in a cast for three months. I was unsteady and unsteady on my feet and had lost all hope of swimming. Months of not practicing left me behind while others moved on. My mother pointed out to me that the best form of physiotherapy was swimming. The first day, I was very hesitant because I was unable to move my ankles. I cleared my mind and started thinking that anything is possible if a person puts his mind to it and keeps a positive attitude. There was no reason for cognitive dissonance. I knew that if I created the right temperament and belief in my mind, it would automatically reflect in my physicality and performance. After a year of vigorous training, I achieved the individual championship. At my current age, last year I won at the district and state level and represented my state at the national swimming competition. I remember there were twenty-three competitors in my race. All the girls were twice my size. I was anxious and felt intimidated. I had a predetermined idea that they were extraordinary. At that moment my eyes met my mother and she called me with encouragement and enthusiasm “you can do it”. I came out of my fears and headed towards the pool with a lot of introspection. I got into position to dive. At this point I thought I should create my own personal best. The gun fired and I sped up. By pushing my own limits, I finally landed third position at the national championships. This race taught me that fear was a self-created illusion and that you could achieve anything with hard work, discipline, purpose and focus. Final Thoughts Swimming taught me to have a good attitude. Limitations as well as liberations have everything to do with your state of mind. I recognized that life is all about having faith, believing in yourself and balancing that with learning from people better than you, their age not being a barrier.