As a child, I remember watching Disney's "The Little Mermaid" and being amazed by the raw force of the water, daydreaming and visualizing myself as a mermaid. My first swimming lesson started soon after. The fear gripping my heart, intertwined with my childhood dream, motivated me to enter, and when I did, a sort of "survival instinct" took over. Arms and legs flailing all over the place, I kept my head above water. When my trainer helped me and motioned for me to calm down, I realized that my feet might touch the bottom of the paddling pool. That day I learned my first lesson. Every problem can be solved with a calm mind. Since then swimming has entered my life as a sport. In this essay I want to share some life lessons I have learned from swimming. We say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get an original essay Our fears are just self-created illusions At the age of seven I started participating in club competitions. There was one girl who was my biggest competition. I perceived her as an extraordinary swimmer. At the beginning she won but then little by little I started winning too. This had a learning curve for me, a healthy competition where we cheered as the winners passed by, and most importantly, that same girl who was my competitor then, is my best friend now and forever. I learned to compete with true sporting spirit and this gave me a superior perception of an authentic bond. In 2014, I broke my leg while ice skating and was in a cast for three months. I was unsteady and unsteady on my legs and had lost hope of swimming. Months of non-practice have left me behind while others have moved forward. My mother pointed out to me that the best form of physical therapy was swimming. The first day I was very uncertain because I couldn't move my ankles. I cleared the clutter in my mind and started thinking that anything is possible if a person puts his mind to it and maintains a positive attitude. There was no reason to have cognitive dissonance. I knew that if I created the correct temperament and belief in my mind, it would automatically reflect in my physicality and performance. After a year of vigorous training I secured the individual championship. Coming to my current age, last year I won at the district and state levels and represented my state in the national swimming competition. I remember there were twenty-three contestants 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, encouraging and enthusiastic, said “you can do it”. I came out of my fears and walked towards the pool with a lot of introspection. I got into position to dive. At that stage I thought I had to create my own personal best. The gun went off and I sped up. By pushing my limits, I finally took third place at Nationals. That race taught me that fear is a self-created illusion and that anything can be achieved with hard work, discipline, purpose and focus. Final Thoughts Swimming taught me to have the right attitude. Limitations as well as liberations have everything to do with your mindset. I recognized that life is all about having faith, believing in yourself and also balancing it well by learning from people better than you, their age is no barrier. I learned to find the