My place where I seek solace isn't exactly a location in the normal sense of the word. I have found that I am 'at peace' when I'm swimming. Not like that slow, long distance stuff in still, beautiful lakes early in the morning that you always see in movies; I do best when at swim practice and I'm in the middle of a difficult swimming set. The combination of the complete physical exertion and the repetitive motion is like a lullaby putting my brain to sleep. I am most content when I am not using my mind. I think that's because I use my brain so much in regular life, with challenging courses and keeping up to date on news and stuff like that. Thus being able to exercise my body and completely blank my mind is a wonderful experience, and even with my body being exerted at 100% my mind is at peace.

It isn't just the location; I can do this at any lap pool as long as I have a workout to do. And swimming under different circumstances than at practice doing a workout just doesn't have the same effect. For example, during swim races I am under too much pressure and in too much pain to enjoy a relaxed mental state. And I tend to get bored just 'hanging out' at a pool or messing around in a lake or the ocean. It really must be a workout, and the problem with this is that swimming is really exhausting and often I just don't have the time or the energy to make it to swim practice. That means I can't go to my state of mental relaxation, which takes its toll on my mental state of being. I think that if other people could find peace while doing exercise, the world would be a better place, especially because lots of people nowadays ironically find 'peace' playing videogames or watching movies. I find peace in the water, and I can't think of anything more peaceful than that.