I couldn’t swim until well into my teens. 

When I found myself suddenly in a pool where I couldn’t touch the bottom prior to learning to swim, I flailed around, thinking I was going to drown. However, I remembered that I had read somewhere that if you simply lay on your back, you end up floating and not drowning.

As I started trying to flop around, I realized that I wasn’t drowning, and I was starting to float. 

While it wasn’t a particularly fun event, I did realize that patience and remembering not to panic can really be helpful in maintaining buoyancy. 

Whether you’re looking to keep your head above water, figuratively or literally, it make sense to pause just for a bit to think about the situation and figure out if your thrashing might actually be hindering your ability to ride the waves.