Who Do You Judge The Most?

I swim in the mornings three times a week. Unfortunately, there’s no lane ropes in due to covid so it’s a bit of a free for all! Usually, people stay out of my way because I’m swimming a proper training session but not the new lady. She tried to swim breastroke in exactly the same space as me, despite there being more room in the slower side of the pool. I could feel myself getting infuriated as time and again I had to keep moving to accommodate her.

Eventually she shifted over, hurray! Between sets I was taking a drink of water. In the space of 30 seconds, she was back! Why on earth had she moved again into my pathway? It made absolutely no sense to me!

At first, I was wondering, am I so frustrated because she was displaying a lack of respect? Then I realised, it wasn’t a lack of respect, it was a lack of self-awareness.

I found myself thinking, “it’s not my job to go around instilling self-awareness into everyone.” Upon reflection, quite a laughable comment since it’s a part of my job as a coach, as long as I have been invited to do so of course. Still, there are more subtle ways to evoke the conditions for self-awareness which I can definitely use. Just knowing this has turned that frustration into compassion and strategy.

A question for you to ponder, who infuriates you the most and what do you judge them for?

Keep reflecting,