at the edge of the lake

and waiting to go in

I'm thinking, 'What am I doing?'

and there are many swear words

going through my head.

I can often find myself staring

at the water

I think doing something like

outdoor swimming

which is something that many people

will think is mad.

It has a way of empowering you.

Doing something outside.

In the cold weather.

It makes you feel brave

and I think there's something really empowering

about doing something for yourself.

So when I first

started to get into outdoor swimming

I was definitely nervous.

There was a lot of self doubt.

Would I be fast enough?

Would I be brave enough?

Would I be able to get in?

How long could I stay in for?

and that actually took me a while

to get over before

I stopped thinking of the excuses

and actually got on with it.

It was just crossing that initial barrier

of doubt

and once I did

It's fair to say that I fell

deeply in love with outdoor swimming.

When you're in the water

your body is weightless

I'm not worrying about anything.

I'm not thinking about anything.

I'm just there in the enjoying that moment

right then

The thing that I enjoy the most

about outdoor swimming

is definitely being outside in nature

doing an activity

that has a way of reducing

the scale of any problems

that you may have.

The health benefits for me

are mainly mental

I work in a job that can be

highly emotionally demanding

and I find that

outdoor swimming

has a way of reducing any stress

that I may have

and I'm able to

leave work at the door

and get a better

work / life balance.

The open water community

is fun and vibrant

and it's fair to say

that I've definitely found my tribe

It's diverse

there's people of all ages,

all different shapes and sizes,

all different races,

and all different outlooks on life.

Outdoor swimming has a place

for everybody.

It's effortless to say though that

although there can be some days

where it's tough to get in the water,

the easy days definitely out weigh

the tougher ones

and the majority of the time

I'm excited

I'm ready for it

and I just want to get in.

One of things that I think I love

the most about outdoor swimming

is that

you don't need loads of equipment.

You just need yourself,

you need a towel,

you need a costume and

some good friends to have a giggle with.

A bit of cake never goes a miss either.

It really is free

and you just need to get yourself

to some water

and get in!