Diving In

I picked Feet First-Riding the Elder Care Rollercoaster with My Father as the title of my recently released book about elder care for many reasons, some obvious, some not.  It certainly refers to my getting thrown into the fire of dealing with my father's care with no experience, no knowledge, and no money.  I had to dive in, feet first, regardless of whether or not I could swim or how deep the pool was. Which brings me to the next "feet first"...

--> I used to be terrified of the water. When I was about two and a half, my grandmother, who loved the water, playfully threw me into our sizeable plastic backyard pool with a hearty laugh and shouted “Swim!” When I continued to flounder underwater, she realized that I wasn’t exactly taking to it, and she pulled me out. Though I was completely unharmed and in reality only a little waterlogged, that experience frightened me to death, and for many years I was fearful of going in the water...

--> The kids at my junior high school called me Chicken Of The Sea. The school had just installed an Olympic-size indoor pool, and all of the students were required to take a Junior Lifesaving course as part of our PE curriculum. A lot of kids loved the idea of swimming during the school day, but not me-I was positively stricken.  The truly amazing thing is that, 25 years later, I actually became a swimmer...

But even then I was literally forced to dive into the pool.  A severe case of sciatica put me on my back for a year, and the only hope for me to continue my film production career was to get in shape and start swimming.  It changed my life, and I still swim on a daily basis.  Even more amazing is that I turned out to be a pretty good swimmer, far better and more accomplished than I ever dreamed I'd be.  Which leads me to my theory...

I've come to believe that sometimes the things that we're most afraid of turn out to be some of the things that we're best at.  When I was producing TV commercials, people regularly told me that I'm missing my calling-I should be directing.  "Oh no, I could never do that, I'm not creative enough." I'd say.  In truth, I was afraid that I wouldn't be able to come up with the necessary stream of ideas to satisfy the clients.  But in reality, I had some of my biggest earning years when I switched over from producing to directing.  I was afraid of swimming, directing, fatherhood, even parental care-everything that has sustained me, and helped my life come more fully to fruition. Diving in "feet first" is the price of admission, and well worth every penny...

Check out my website: http://www.jamielegon.com to see an excerpt from my book FEET FIRST-Riding the Elder Care Rollercoaster with My Father, follow my blogs, or to contact me directly...