Progress one paddle at a time
- Tom Dunn
- Oct 16, 2016
- 3 min read
A small itch alerts me to a mosquito on my leg. I can only look down on it and watch as it begins to drink it's fill. My instinct is to bend and swat it away, but my mind screams at me to stay still. The itch grows stronger, yet the fear of falling keeps my body rigid, and the mosquito safe. A gust of wind swells and hits me from the left. Suddenly my right ankle feels wet and I know I am falling. "Lean left, lean left!" my mind screams at me, but when I do so my left ankle feels wet, "Right, Right!" I thrash back and forth, left to right, and slowly I work my balance back to the safety of the middle of the board. The wake from my panicked movement laps at the bank just 3 meters away where my mum sits, laughing. "You nearly went in" she says, enjoying the moment far too much. "I nearly fell in" I agree to myself, but don't dare let myself say the words aloud. To fall now is far too confronting a realization of how hard my trip will be. I've been on this board for a minute, have floated only 3 meters and have nearly fallen in already... "How the hell am I going to travel 3,700km?" As the adrenaline from nearly falling subsides, the itch on my leg returns. I'm desperate to feel dry land under my feet again but the current is dragging me further into the middle of the river. I know I have to put the paddle into the water, but it seems that along with my blood the mosquito has sucked up my confidence, and I remain still. Finally the shame of standing rigid on a board, drifting backwards, moves me to action. I dip the paddle in and wince, bracing for the cold splash of failure as I hit the river's surface. The cowardly mosquito senses the inevitable and flees, I watch it fly away, wishing I could do the same. Yet as I pull the paddle from the water I'm astonished to find myself still upright. One paddle stroke becomes two, which becomes three, four and as my board gains momentum, I realise I'm stand up paddle boarding. A wash of relief floods over me, "I'm actually going to be able to do this". My thoughts quickly turn to the finish line, and how great it will feel to paddle through the Murray Mouth with $60,000 raised. With each new paddle stroke my confidence swells, and so too does my head. Too caught up in thoughts of the finish line, I'm unnable to balance my big head and yet again my right ankle feels extremely damp. I lean left again to save myself from falling, yet this time, my left leg stays dry, and I return to a balanced position easier than before. Once I'm sure the danger has passed I allow myself a sheepish smile, "Lucky". I look around and realise I've gone all of 50m, but I can't help but feel a little proud of that tiny distance. It's 50m further than I've ever been before. An hour later I've taken my lifetime experience of stand up paddle boarding to 4km. It's not much, but it's progress. As I drift back to the bank I feel a familiar itch on my leg. I bend quickly and swat the mosquito. "Progress"

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