Present Over Perfect by Shauna Niequist
Week 14: "Swimming" — Learning to Move Differently
Read the chapter "Swimming" in Present Over Perfect by Shauna Niequist.
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Niequist uses swimming as both a literal and a metaphorical practice — learning to move through water, and through life, with less thrashing and more grace.
Discussion Questions
6 questions1.Niequist writes about learning to swim as an adult — humbling, slow, requiring submission to something you can't control. Have you had an experience of being a beginner at something as an adult? What did it feel like to not be competent?
2.She draws a parallel between swimming and moving through life — the way that fighting and thrashing keeps you afloat but exhausts you, while releasing and trusting the water allows you to move more efficiently. Where in your life are you thrashing when you could be trusting?
3.Swimming requires a particular kind of surrender — you cannot be tense and still move well. What are the specific fears or anxieties that make surrender difficult for you in your current season of life?
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