I have always been a fish, when it comes to swimming. I've been swimming since I was two and a half years old. I was fortunate to have a pool in my backyard growing up. My older sister, Veronica, was also a fish. She would get up on the diving board and do double front flips and double back flips with relative ease.

Needless to say I was quite amazed by her acrobatic feet. I really wanted to do a flip badly. Except for some reason I was afraid of our diving board. It took me a few summers to get over that one.

Six years later my sister had stopped doing her amazing double flips, but my dream to do a flip still stuck in my mind. I had a constant reminder in my backyard, even during the winter months.

I started becoming very adventurous on the diving board, turning my body in various ways before I hit the water. The sting of the water when you are spinning uncontrollably almost knocked me out on multiple occasions.

I really put my effort into doing flips when I was thirteen years old. I would begin my flip, only to get scared in the middle of it, and have a long fall to land on my back. This was my regular routine for three years. I'd have it and then get scared and hit my back, but I never stopped trying.

I got really good at absorbing the pain of landing on my back or my side. My best friend, Kevin, had gotten the flip down the previous summer. Needless to say I did trust myself. I didn't truly believe I could do it. Yet no matter the countless tries attempting to fulfill this dream my focus to accomplish it never waned.

One day while watching Kevin flip, it suddenly clicked for me. I lowered my left shoulder and did a very awkward looking flip. I was so ecstatic that I did this odd looking flips over and over again. It was all worth it.

After that I perfected my flip and started doing one and a half flips. I have flipped off of ten-foot roofs (Don't try this at home kids); thirty-foot cliffs and a forty-five foot cliff.

I tend to forget the accomplishments I've done in my childhood because I've thought it's all about growing up. But the dream that kid had still lives inside me. So next time you have a project to do or a dream to accomplish think of all the amazing things you have accomplished before that. Celebrate your victories and go after your dreams. If you have never done your flip in life, all it takes is the dream to do it again one more time.

When spider webs unite, they can tie up a lion.

Ethopian proverb

A true friend never gets in your way unless you happen to be going down.

Arnold Glasgow

Self-discipline is when your conscience tells you to do someting and you don't talk back. 

W.K. Hope

A strong positive mental attitude will create more miracles than any wonder drug.

Patricia Neal

You can't have a better tomorrow if you are thinking about yesterday all the time.

Charles F. Kettering

Only those who dare to fail greatly can ever achieve greatly.

Robert F. Kennedy

Mary Lou Retton