Just Keep Swimming

Wise advice from "Finding Nemo" and Winston Churchill

Photo by Todd Quackenbush on Unsplash

“Finding Nemo” is one of my favorite movies. It’s a 2003 animated film about tropical fish and other undersea creatures, and that alone would be enough to make me love it.

One character I especially appreciate is Dory, a royal blue tang with a positive attitude that enables her to persevere despite her memory lapses and other challenges. “Just keep swimming” is a quote from a pep talk she gives a discouraged friend.

Here’s the longer version: “Hey, Mr. Grumpy Gills… When life gets you down, you know what you gotta do? Just keep swimming.”

Winston Churchill, as quoted here, gives similar advice:

If you’re going through hell, keep going.

Those of you who read last week’s newsletter know that I went through hell recently. My husband and I, along with our cat Taffy, lived out of three different hotel rooms starting on January 9. That was not supposed to happen. We had a very different plan; it fell apart at the last minute.

I am happy to report that on Wednesday (February 1) we moved into a one bedroom apartment. We now have a full kitchen, washer and dryer, and a permanent residence for at least the next five months. Our situation is far from ideal - we still don’t have health insurance and need to find ways to generate more income soon - but it is a lot better than it was a few days ago.

This experience has reminded me yet again that life is uncertain. We may know what we want, make plans and take actions we think will lead us there, and end up blindsided by events we didn’t anticipate. The idea that we control our own destinies and can “manifest” anything we desire is a cruel lie. There are too many variables we can’t predict or control.

What we can do is “just keep swimming,” even if it’s in a different direction than we had in mind and we’re not sure where we’ll end up.