The time had finally come, Jack had been dreading it for the past 365 days. There should not be any misconceptions, Jack loved to lifeguard, he loved talking to people, he loved being in the sun, and he loved the idea of being able to help others. Jack enjoyed his job very much, but he absolutely despised the swim test. Jack had always viewed himself as a decent swimmer; and the shallow oceans in his hometown made it much easier than if he had to deal with the rough waves in California. Jack had passed all of the courses, taken all the exams, but despite displaying his qualifications he still had to pass the swim test. “Good luck!” Jack’s mother yelled as Jack grabbed his swimsuit and was heading out the door. “Thanks mom,” Jack said in a nervous tone as he felt his heart beating quicker by the second. “Remember to take a deep breath and relax!” said his mother one more time before Jack left. Jack smiled at his mother and kissed her, trying to disguise his lack of confidence. Jack hopped into his car and made his way towards the swimming pool in the center of town. Jack was not the most religious person, but he made sure to pray today.
Jack looked around at the other lifeguards, their faces were tense. It made Jack feel more uneasy, but also was a bit comforting because he was not the only one who was dreading this test. “Let's hop in boys and girls!” Yelled the director of the recreational department, Clark Mathews. Jack entered the freezing pool and felt his muscles tense up, not a very promising start. Jack and his 20 other peers lined up against the side of the pool as Clark spoke, “you’ll have ten minutes to complete 20 laps, no cheating, no pushing, make sure to touch the walls.” Jack's heart began to pound, he knew he had to be on pace with two laps per minute to even have a chance of passing the first section of the test. Jack took a deep breath, focused on the wall in front of him and prepared to give every ounce of effort in his body. “Go!” Yelled Clark, and the 21 swimmers were off.
To give a little context on the situation, the pool in the center of Jack’s town was not exactly a five star hotel pool. No, this pool was equivalent to a deserted motel’s pool. Jack struggled to perform his strokes and kick his legs because of the tight space he had to work with. Many of the other lifeguards were older, bigger, and stronger than Jack, making it extremely difficult to create space. Jack was surrounded by Jon Davidson and Zach Thompson, both were excellent swimmers, and considerably larger than Jack. Jon and Zach swam with such force and created colossal waves that would crash into Jack’s mouth as he would try and breath. Jack found himself gagging on the chlorine water and struggling to take in deep breaths. His muscles began to burn and it was only the 6th lap, the situation was not looking good for Jack. As Jack scanned the rest of the pool, he saw a majority of the swimmers effortlessly gliding through the pool, they even looked somewhat graceful. Jack envied their skills and wished he had natural talent like many of his coworkers. “Two minutes left!” Said Clark as he comfortably sat in his beach chair watching the swimmers struggle. Jack was on his 16th lap, he was on pace for the goal, but his body was weakening. Many of the other swimmers had already finished and Zach and Jon had distanced themselves from him. Jack looked up and noticed that the majority of the swimmers were high fiving and relaxing at the finish line. Jack was in last place and felt very discouraged. “Come on Jack show me why you deserve to be here!” yelled Clark as he began to focus solely on Jack. Water filled Jack’s lungs and eyes, and his body hurt everywhere, but he continued to push himself. “Pain is temporary” Jack kept thinking to himself as he neared his final lap. Jack’s body was drained, but he summoned his will from within and began to pump his arms and legs as hard as he could. Jack took a deep breath and dove under water. The whole building went silent, as people watched the timer ticking down. As the timer was about to strike zero, a tiny body propelled out of the water touching the wall just in time. Jack was gasping for air and laid on the side of the pool trying to recover. “Have a hard time?” Clark said with a little smirk on his face. “It was… almost… too easy,” said Jack as he was heavily panting. Jack was greeted with a number of high fives and pats on the back, but his happiness was short lived. This was only the first half of the test.
Jack’s legs felt like jello when he walked and he could already feel every muscle in his body aching. “Come on you can do it,” Jack said to himself as he tried to block out the pain. “Alright, now for everyone’s personal favorite,” Clark said with a big smile on his face. He slowly walked down to the deep end of the pool and dropped a blue brick down to the bottom. “You guys know the drill, swim down, get the brick, and swim back in under two minutes.” Clark said. Jack looked around and even the confident swimmers appeared to be nervous, the last event had left many of them still feeling fatigued. “Alright...Brunson you’re up first,” said Clark as he scanned the list. Jack knew that the list was in alphabetical order, so having the last name Wilson gave him some time to try and recover. Jack stretched out and observed the other swimmers performing very well on the brick test. Many of them had seemed nervous, but in Jack’s eyes they seemed to get the brick and swim it back effortlessly. The more Jack waited, the more nervous he began to feel. His anxiety was through the roof and his muscles did not appear to be recovering anytime soon. Jack wished time would just stop, but deep down he knew it was inevitable, he would have to go soon. “Wilson!” Clark yelled, the sound echoed through the building and all eyes were now focused on Jack. “Now or never,” Jack said to himself as he got on the starting block preparing for the event. “Splash!” Jack disappeared under the water.
Jack took his time swimming out to the deep end of the pool, knowing from experience he had to preserve the little energy he had left. “You gotta be faster than that Wilson!” Clark yelled from across the pool. Jack gathered himself and tried to look through the murky water trying to spot the brick. He saw a blue object resting on the bottom of the pool and prepared to make his descent. Jack pushed away his lack of confidence and sucked in as much air as his lungs would hold, and dove under. Jack swam for what seemed like hours and the distance seemed to not get any closer. His lungs began to burn, signaling that he did not have much time left. At last, Jack reached the bottom and rapidly scanned the floor in search of the brick. He felt a hard object and held it close to his chest. Jack did a squat on the bottom of the pool and pushed his legs up, propelling him towards the surface. As Jack looked up he could see the 20 other faces looking down at him and the bright lights shining through. Finally Jack submerged, and was able to breath in the fresh air that he had been craving since the start of this event. However, his struggles were not over yet, Jack floated on his back with the brick on his chest and began to paddle towards the finish line. The brick would weigh Jack down and water would continue to fill his lungs, but he did not quit. Jack could hear the sound of people cheering in the background and this only motivated him to work harder. “Five, four, three, two…” chanted Jack’s peers as he neared the finish line. Jack passed the line just in time and threw the brick onto the side of the pool, he had given everything he had. Jack felt as if his heart was going to beat out of his chest as he struggled to catch his breath. “Not bad Wilson, not bad at all” Said Clark with an approving look on his face.
Jack learned a valuable lesson that day in his town’s pool. A person cannot escape pain, it may last for a second, a minute, an hour, a day, or even months, but eventually, that pain will fade away and it will be replaced by something else, strength. Pain pushes the body’s limits mentally and physically. The key is to keep telling yourself, pain is temporary. Life is not easy, and nothing is just given. If you want something, work for it. It takes courage to face pain and suffering, but it will create effective results and reveal the true strength and character of a person. So when you feel like you cannot finish a rep, or complete your homework, or if you feel like you’re just not strong enough to handle life; take a deep breath, give all of your effort, and tell yourself, “pain is temporary.”