I learned this quickly and once and for all.
It was a very simple and quick lesson.
I was about 15 years old. I went out to sea.
No one was swimming then, because the waves were bigger than usual.
I had great confidence in my abilities, but I didn’t consider the possibility of events beyond my control.
I was already a good distance from shore when I suddenly felt something hit me on the head.
Something hard and rather sharp. Something… like a fin (I thought in a split second).
How was that possible?
I stopped abruptly, as if paralyzed, and took a nervous, quick breath.
But instead of air, I drew in water.
I began to choke violently and struggle in the sea.
The bottom had long since disappeared beneath my feet…
Waves were all around me.
On the beach – there was no one.
My mind was consumed by… Panic.
But in one brief moment, I realized there were only two options.
Either I would immediately try to control myself and, in some superhuman way, cough up the water that was choking me and robbing me of any remaining clarity of thought.
…Or I would simply drown there.
There was no time at all.
I tried to cough up the water.
With each attempt, I felt the water had probably gone too deep.
However, after another attempt and some struggling, the first breath came, which suddenly restored my hope.
The coughing reflex continued to rack me, but I knew I had myself under control.
I knew that thanks to this, I was saved.
With my head above the surface, I swam slowly sideways toward shore.
I watched the waves, which had now become my allies, pushing me gently, lifting me slightly.
Looking at the dark Baltic Sea, which I was slowly leaving behind,
I saw in the distance floating on the water – a plastic, child’s toy.
It was that fin that hit me on the head that day.
So, in that moment, I became someone else.
To this day, whenever a situation becomes difficult, I instinctively react with calm.
I become incredibly focused in an instant.
As if I knew that this was the only way to save everything…
Just remembering that situation – I feel exhausted.
I stop writing.
As if I’d saved myself from drowning in the Baltic Sea once again.
That was about forty years ago.
It’s not every day that you learn such powerful lessons…
