It Was Not My Time
I have been thinking of an incident from my past. I do not know why I have been thinking about it lately. It is not the anniversary of the event, it has no bearing on my life now, or how I life my life. Yet, the memory is there, and it continues. Maybe I am supposed to write about it.
IT IS NOT YOUR TIME.
What you are about to read actually happened to me. 10o% of it is true.
I can remember at ten years of age going away on summer vacation and visiting relatives that lived out of my state. It was nice to visit these relatives; we only got to see them maybe once a year. I do not remember the city they lived in, I barely remember their apartment. There is one thing I do remember about that visit and my surroundings-the pool.
Like many apartment complexes, it had a pool. I remember going there one day on my visit with one of my relatives.
I went into the pool, played, and had a good time. I had been taking swimming lessons, so I knew how to orient myself by touching my feet to the bottom of the pool. I could do a few swimming strokes, and knew basic swimming techniques. In my swimming classes, I was in an indoor swimming pool that was all the same depth. I had had some experience in swimming in the deeper end of a pool, but not much. I knew to stay close to the edge of the pool in the deep end; I could not touch my feet to the bottom of the pool, but I could grab the side of the pool if I needed help or orientation.
I went into the pool, played, and had a good time. I had been taking swimming lessons, so I knew how to orient myself by touching my feet to the bottom of the pool. I could do a few swimming strokes, and knew basic swimming techniques. In my swimming classes, I was in an indoor swimming pool that was all the same depth. I had had some experience in swimming in the deeper end of a pool, but not much. I knew to stay close to the edge of the pool in the deep end; I could not touch my feet to the bottom of the pool, but I could grab the side of the pool if I needed help or orientation.
A few minutes had passed, though I cannot remember how many. It could have been ten minutes, it could have been thirty. Suddenly, a little girl swam up to me. She said I was a great swimmer; I thanked her for the compliment. She asked if I could take her to the deep end of the pool. She really wanted to go to the deeper end, though I had no idea why.
I remember feeling hesitant when she asked me. I did not understand why she needed my help to get to the deeper end of the pool, which was less than five feet away from her. But, I knew I had some confidence in my swimming, and I thought I could handle it. Ignoring my instincts, I said yes. I should have listened to my instincts.
I remember feeling hesitant when she asked me. I did not understand why she needed my help to get to the deeper end of the pool, which was less than five feet away from her. But, I knew I had some confidence in my swimming, and I thought I could handle it. Ignoring my instincts, I said yes. I should have listened to my instincts.
I took her arm and we began to swim into the deeper end of the pool. As we got closer, she moved closer to me. She held on to me, sort of in a loose embrace. I stayed close to the edge like I was comfortable with. “No, I want to go out into the middle,” she told me. I rolled my eyes in frustration, kicked off from the side of the pool and went towards the middle of the deep end. That is when the panic set in. Not in me, but in my swimming companion.
I then knew why the little girl needed my help to get to the deeper end of the pool; she could not swim. She could keep her head above water, but could do very little else. She had no business being in the pool to begin with. And quite frankly, I should never have said yes to her request to take her into the deeper end of the pool.
The little girl began to panic. There we were, in the middle of the deep end. She began to hold on to me more closely, tightening her grip around me. That is when I began to panic. I reached for the bottom of the pool with my feet. I of course could not reach it; we were now in the deep end of the pool. The pool depth could have been eight feet deep; it could have been twenty feet deep for all I knew.
I tried to calm the girl, telling her it was alright, and that I would get her to the other side. That is when she had a panic attack. She used me to get herself higher in the water, which meant I was being pushed down into the water. I struggled to the surface and took a quick breath. Again the girl pushed me down into the water.
I remember looking up as I was going down into the water. I remember seeing a woman, in a bikini style swimsuit, jump in after us. Actually, in my memory, I see her in sort of a “Matrix” movie moment, suspended in midair, frozen in a second in time.
The next thing I knew, I was in a dark place. I was nowhere, yet I was somewhere. I could breathe. I was no longer in the water. I was in sort of a large room; it had light, yet the walls and floor were black. I remember looking up, to my left, and seeing a large, rectangular object, similar to a movie screen. At first, the screen was lit up with white light. Suddenly, a movie began; it was the movie of my life. I watched my life flash in front of my eyes. Images from my life, my memories, flashed in front of my eyes, moving faster than I could fathom. Occasionally, an image would pause, if only for a fraction of a second. The film then sped up again to normal speed. I watched those images. I remember seeing these images.
I then received a message. It did not come to me in an audible voice; no one said it to me. It did not come in a yell or a whisper. The message came to me in a thought. I do not know how I received this message. Yet I received it all the same:
I then received a message. It did not come to me in an audible voice; no one said it to me. It did not come in a yell or a whisper. The message came to me in a thought. I do not know how I received this message. Yet I received it all the same:
The next thing I knew, I was out of the water, sitting in a chair on the pool desk, a warm towel wrapped around me. I have no idea how I got from the water to that chair. I was scared and confused. I have no memory of what happened after I went down in the water the second time.
A moment later, the little girl, who had asked me to take her to the deep end of the pool, walked up to me. She was also wrapped in a towel. She apologized to me. I nodded my head in response. I remember thinking, “Yeah yeah, it is okay. Get away from me.” She walked away. I then heard in the distance, “Hey, can you take me to the deep end?” It was the same little girl, asking someone else.
Looking back on the incident, I do not remember being in a tunnel. I do not remember seeing a white light. I was not met by a deceased family member. I was alone in that dark place, watching my life flash before my eyes. I was someplace else; and then, in an instant, I was not.
You might read this and think I had a near death experience. You may read this and think I passed out due to lack of oxygen to my brain. You might think that I made this up and have a vivid imagination. As I said in the beginning, this story happened to me, and is 100% true.
This event has not had a large impact on my life. I still swim, I am not afraid of the water. I do not have any fear of water. I swim in the shallow and deep ends of a pool.
.
I do not know if the woman in the bikini got me out of the water. I do not know if she saved me, or if someone else did.
I do know, however, that a higher power was involved.
I do know, however, that a higher power was involved.
However it happened, however I was saved, I want to give my universal thanks to anyone and everyone involved in saving me. I knew I was saved for a reason. I knew that I was saved for a purpose. I knew that it was not my time.
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