Most days I feel like I am just treading water. Not getting anywhere. Barely keeping my head above water.

My self-talk tells me I should be doing more. Making progress, getting more accomplished, having a clear sense of purpose and direction. Not simply keeping myself from going under.

In the midst of one of those water treading days recently, I suddenly remembered my time as a Sea Sprite—a member of my college synchronized swim team. We Sea Sprites spent a lot of time treading water. In fact, we couldn’t get on to practicing our routines until we had completed our necessary water treading time. It was the essential skill needed to successfully perform together. It was hard and tiring work, but without the ability to tread water for a sustained period of time, we couldn’t perform our routines skillfully and with grace, strength, and in partnership with one another. It was only through the consistent practice of treading water that we developed the physical strength and endurance necessary to perform at our best. It required determination, grit, and a commitment to our shared success to keep treading water, when all we wanted to do was climb out of the pool and collapse on the deck. But the pool was where the magic happened.

Haven’t we all been treading water?

Given the treacherous waters of the year(s) we’ve just endured, it’s a miracle that we haven’t gone under. Rather than seeing treading water as simply coping, maybe we can begin to embrace it as the essential skill that it is. The one that enables us to live with grace, strength and in partnership with one another.

What is keeping us afloat? Treading water. What will continue to keep us afloat? Treading water. The willingness to stay where we are when all we want to do is climb out of the pool and collapse on the deck.

Take it from a former Sea Sprite.

The pool is where the magic happens.