Work impacts how we live, and our lives impact how we do our work. My name is Oskar Dudycz, not Paulo Coelho, and today I’m not going to talk about software architecture or the event-driven world, but about the world in general, or to be precise, my world. I’ll let you say hello to it, but if you’re looking for a technical piece, that’s not happening today.工作影响我们的生活，而生活也反过来影响我们的工作方式。我叫 Oskar Dudycz，不是保罗·柯艾略（Paulo Coelho）。今天我不打算谈论软件架构或事件驱动的世界，而是想聊聊整个世界，或者更确切地说，聊聊我的世界。我会带你了解一下，但如果你是想看技术文章，那今天恐怕要让你失望了。

If this story were written in Fakt, Bild, or Sun, it could have been titled:如果这个故事写在《Fakt》、《Bild》或《Sun》这些小报上，标题可能会是：

Trained for 6 years. Finished as the last one.苦练 6 年，最终垫底。

That’d be almost true about what has happened to me. Almost would already be a lot for Fakt, Bild or Sun. Now, let’s go with the full story.这对于发生在我身上的事来说，基本属实。对于《Fakt》、《Bild》或《Sun》来说，“基本属实”已经足够夸张了。现在，让我来讲述完整的故事吧。

I’m a weird type of guy, I don’t have a driving license. And neither did I have it. I learned to ride a bike when I was 9 years old and got it for my First Communion. And I didn’t learn to swim till I was 35. Yes, that happened 6 years ago.我是个怪人，没有驾照，以前也没考过。我 9 岁时学会了骑自行车，那是我的初领圣体礼物。直到 35 岁，我才学会游泳。没错，那是 6 年前的事了。

Did I have some trauma, like drowning? Nah, just didn’t happen. Maybe because my father couldn’t swim, maybe because I didn’t have motivation. Dunno, just didn’t happen.我有什么溺水之类的心理创伤吗？并没有，纯粹没学会。也许是因为我父亲也不会游泳，也许是因为我缺乏动力。不知道，反正就是没学会。

Of course, not having certain skills can be fine; you can learn to live without them. You can even be considered a fashionable hipster. Some folks consider my lack of a driver’s license as a personal worldview stand. The fact that I like to cycle or ride a train suggests to some that I’m an ecologist. And don’t get me wrong, I like nature, I try to be a good citizen, but that’s not my main motivation.当然，缺乏某些技能没关系，你完全可以学会没有它们的生活。你甚至会被视为时髦的嬉皮士。有些人认为我不考驾照是一种个人世界观的表达。我喜欢骑车或坐火车，这让一些人觉得我是个环保主义者。别误会，我热爱自然，也努力做一个好公民，但这并不是我的主要动机。

This is just what I do, not who I am.这只是我做的事，而不是我的本质。

So am I a swimmer now? Well, it seems that I can swim now. I took classes from 2018 to 2019, then stopped for about 3 years, and got back into it when I signed my daughter up for swimming classes.那么，我现在算是个游泳者了吗？嗯，看来我现在确实会游泳了。我 2018 年到 2019 年间参加了培训班，然后中断了大约 3 年，直到后来给女儿报名游泳班时，我又重新开始了。

Now, when I say I’m practising swimming, everyone assumes I’m a triathlete preparing for a competition. And well, I’m not.现在，每当我说我在练习游泳时，大家都会以为我是个正在备赛的铁人三项选手。好吧，我并不是。

I don’t even like to swim much. I mean, it’s fine, I don’t mind, but it’s not that it’s my passion. I don’t have thoughts like:我甚至不太喜欢游泳。我的意思是，这还行，我不排斥，但谈不上热爱。我不会有这样的想法：

Hell, I’d like to swim now.天哪，我现在好想去游泳。

And I still have thoughts like:但我依然会有这样的想法：

Hell, I’d play football now.天哪，我现在好想踢场球。

Which I don’t do, as I don’t play football anymore. Even though it was my passion for most of my life, I wasn’t talented at it, but I liked doing it. I even played as a junior for my hometown club (Miedź Legnica) and later in amateur leagues. And in those amateur leagues, I tore something called the lateral patellar retinacula. Actually, two of them, in both knees. Which means that my knees are unstable, and if I continued to play, it’d end up with some challenging surgery.但我现在已经不踢球了。尽管足球曾是我大半生的热爱，虽然我踢得并不好，但我乐在其中。我甚至以青年球员身份效力过家乡俱乐部（Miedź Legnica），后来也参加过业余联赛。就是在那些业余联赛中，我撕裂了所谓的髌骨外侧支持带。实际上，两个膝盖的都撕裂了。这意味着我的膝盖不稳定，如果继续踢球，最终可能需要进行棘手的手术。

That also means that I had to decide to be unsuccessful somewhere else.这也意味着我必须决定在其他领域继续做一个“失败者”。

So, I’m an unsuccessful footballer and now an unsuccessful swimmer in the making.所以，我是一个失败的足球运动员，现在又成了一个正在成长中的失败游泳者。

I tried running and going to the gym, but it was always boring for me. I could do it for a few months, but then I quit. And off we go, for not training.我尝试过跑步和去健身房，但总是觉得很无聊。我可以坚持几个月，然后就放弃了。于是，我又回到了不运动的状态。

And I tried swimming.然后我尝试了游泳。

Why? We don’t need to be capable of everything; it’s often a fine choice not to learn everything. At some point, a lack of certain skills can be limiting. You already know that it wasn’t my worldview to always have my feet on solid ground, but the main motivations were:为什么？我们不需要样样精通；选择不去学习所有东西往往是个不错的决定。但在某些时候，缺乏特定技能会成为一种限制。你已经知道，我并不是因为什么“双脚踏实地”的世界观，我主要的动机是：

• It’s nice to do some swimming on holidays,度假时游游泳挺好的，
• It’s NOT nice to be a lame dad who can’t swim with his daughter,做一个不能陪女儿一起游泳的笨拙父亲感觉很糟糕，
• I kindaish always wanted to learn that, just didn’t happen,我一直想学，只是以前没机会，
• It’d be good to do some exercises, keeping in mind my sitting style of work,考虑到我久坐的工作方式，做点运动很有必要，
• I had a swimming pool 10m by walk,我步行 10 米就能到游泳池，
• I had and still have a great teacher. Thanks, Justyna!我有一位很棒的老师。谢谢你，Justyna！

So I started learning to swim again in 2024. It’s an interesting exercise when you learn something new as an adult. It’s more challenging because you’re overthinking rather than acting on your instincts. Or maybe your old habits are making your instincts unintuitional. It also shows how everyone has a different way of learning.于是我在 2024 年重新开始学习游泳。成年后学习新事物是一项有趣的练习。这更具挑战性，因为你往往会想得太多，而不是凭直觉行动。或者是因为旧习惯干扰了你的直觉。这也说明了每个人都有不同的学习方式。

Take Breaststroke style (in Polish called “Żabka” - frog). Most people claim that it’s the easiest style to learn. For me? Madness, how much stuff you need to remember and coordinate: hands, back, legs.以蛙泳（波兰语称为“Żabka”，即小青蛙）为例。大多数人声称这是最容易学的泳姿。对我来说？简直疯了，你需要记住并协调这么多东西：手、背部、腿。

It also shows how everything is connected. It appeared that I couldn’t do it properly because I wasn’t stretched enough. Only after I started stretching was I able to move my back and twist my legs correctly. Well almost. Almost in the Fakt, Bild and Sun way.这也体现了万物之间的关联。我发现自己无法正确完成动作，是因为身体不够舒展。直到我开始拉伸，才能正确地活动背部并扭动双腿。好吧，几乎可以了。就像《Fakt》、《Bild》和《Sun》那样，是“几乎”。

Ok, so I learned to swim kindaish. But the best progress I made was last year.好吧，我算是学会了游泳。但我进步最大的是去年。

When we started the season in September, my coach told our group that we’d start competing. I said hell yeah, and Justyna took the irony for a real agreement. So it started.九月开季时，教练告诉我们小组要开始参加比赛了。我随口说了句“太棒了”，结果 Justyna 把我的反话当成了认真的承诺。于是，一切就开始了。

It appeared that the shortest possible distance is 475 meters, which is around 19 swimming pool lengths. Ah, and it’s on the lake, deep for 22 meters. I didn’t know about that last part when I signed for it. I also didn’t know if I could swim for so long with the crawl style. I had probably a record of around 6-8 swimming pools.结果发现最短的比赛距离是 475 米，大约相当于 19 个泳池长度。哦，而且是在一个 22 米深的湖里。报名时我根本不知道后面那点。我也不知道自己能不能用自由泳游那么远。我当时的纪录大概也就 6 到 8 个泳池长度。

And well, I made it.不过，我还是做到了。

Was I stupid or just dumb? I hope that neither of those. I used the best way to learn: practical and deadline-driven.我是愚蠢还是傻？我希望两者都不是。我用了最好的学习方法：实践驱动和截止日期驱动。

Instead of one training per week, I started doing two. I took some private lessons with Justyna and also started doing longer swimming sessions. Slowly but surely, I beat my record to 10, 15, 20, then 40.我把每周一次训练增加到两次。我找 Justyna 进行了私教课，并开始进行更长时间的游泳练习。缓慢而坚定地，我把纪录从 10 个、15 个、20 个提升到了 40 个。

Yes, it was stressful; yes, it required a patient, slow process, but it gave me at least the trust in myself that if I can swim 40, then I’ll probably make 19.没错，过程很有压力，也需要耐心和缓慢的积累，但它至少让我相信：如果我能游 40 个，那么游 19 个应该没问题。

It also helped to do a real dry run in the lake and the sea. If you only swim in the swimming pool, you’ll be surprised how different swimming in a lake is.在湖泊和大海里进行实地预演也很有帮助。如果你只在游泳池里游，你会惊讶于湖水游泳的差异。

The water is dirty; it’s super easy to lose your bearings and go in a longer circle than you should.水很脏，而且极易迷失方向，绕出比预期更长的圈子。

And guess what? The real competition brings even more surprises. The crowd of other swimmers is a challenge. Constant pushing on the start, distracting from catching the flow. Then stress, and moments of doubt about yourself. You can prepare for that, but only to some degree; the real learning comes through the next stage, which starts in competition.你猜怎么着？真正的比赛带来了更多惊喜。周围拥挤的游泳者就是一大挑战。起跑时的推搡不断，让人难以保持节奏。接着是压力，以及对自己产生怀疑的时刻。你可以为此做准备，但只能达到一定程度；真正的学习是在比赛这个阶段才开始的。

Were I actually the last one? No, I was 53 out of 59. Seems I wasn’t all bad. Just half bad. I had 14m 20s time. My best on practice was 12m.我真的是最后一名吗？不，我在 59 人中排第 53 位。看来我还不算太差，只是“一半差”。我的成绩是 14 分 20 秒。我练习时的最好成绩是 12 分。

Still, not too bad for a guy who learned to swim at 35, if you ask me. I’m super proud of myself.对我这个 35 岁才学会游泳的人来说，这已经很不错了。我为自己感到非常自豪。

My friend Damian (jokingly) told me that I should write this as我的朋友 Damian（开玩笑地）建议我这样写：

“10 things I learned about EDA from practicing swimming and preparing for a competition”“通过练习游泳和备赛，我学到的关于 EDA 的 10 件事”

And that’s not going to happen, but let me give an inspirational quote from the man, the legend, Michael Jordan:这肯定不会发生，但让我引用那位传奇人物迈克尔·乔丹的一句励志名言：

I don’t compete with other people. I compete with what I’m capable of.我不与他人竞争。我只与自己的能力极限竞争。

And that’s what I did. Of course, Michael wasn’t competing with others, as he was the best, GOAT. I wasn’t competing, as I was one of the worst.我就是这么做的。当然，迈克尔不需要和别人竞争，因为他是最强的，是 GOAT（史上最佳）。我不需要竞争，因为我是最差的那批人之一。

Yet, I was still much better than my past self. And I also achieved more than those who haven’t even tried.然而，我依然比过去的自己强多了。而且我取得的成就也比那些从未尝试过的人要多。

Interestingly, I was sometimes perceived as humble, and sometimes as too self-assured. Maybe it comes from a common answer when someone asks me if I can do something:有趣的是，有时人们觉得我谦虚，有时又觉得我过于自信。这可能源于别人问我能否做某事时，我常用的回答：

I don’t know; I haven’t tried it yet.我不知道，我还没试过。

But I think that stems from my belief that we are all human. We’re not worse than others, but we’re also not better than others, which can be seen as bold or humble, depending on the focus of this belief.但我认为这源于我的信念：我们都是普通人。我们并不比别人差，但也并不比别人好。这取决于你从哪个角度看，它既可以是傲慢的，也可以是谦逊的。

We won’t know what we’re capable of until we try it. And when we do, we’ll already be much further than your past selves that haven’t tried.不去尝试，我们就永远不知道自己能做到什么。一旦尝试了，你就已经超越了那个从未尝试过的自己。

I’m not trying to say that we can achieve everything; I probably won’t ever be a good swimmer. If I could achieve that, then anyone can. I’m not saying that’s going to be easy. It’s not. It requires time. And time is a precious resource. Not infinite. The best way to find it is to find it. But to do it, you need to set a priority, which means something else will become less important.我并不是说我们能成就一切；我可能永远成不了一名优秀的游泳运动员。如果我都能做到，那任何人都可以。我不是说这会很容易。事实并非如此。它需要时间，而时间是宝贵的资源，不是无限的。找到时间的最好方法就是去挤出时间。但要做到这一点，你需要设定优先级，这意味着其他事情的重要性会降低。

Pick wisely.明智地选择吧。

Should you also swim? Well, maybe. You definitely should do some exercises if you’re a developer like me. But precisely swimming? Up to you. Should you get a hobby other than work? Definitely.你也应该游泳吗？嗯，也许吧。如果你像我一样是个开发者，绝对应该做些运动。但具体是不是游泳？由你决定。你应该在工作之外培养爱好吗？当然。

Why did I write this article? A bit to brag, as I’m happy I made it.我为什么写这篇文章？多少有点炫耀的意思，因为我为自己做到了这一点感到高兴。

Brag about being 53 out of 59 after 6 years of training? Seems so! You need to cherish small successes that, from the right perspective, appear to be big ones.练习 6 年后在 59 人中排第 53 位也要炫耀？看来是的！你需要珍惜那些从正确角度看显得意义重大的小成就。

So, are there 10 things you can learn about software engineering from practising swimming and preparing for a competition?那么，通过练习游泳和备赛，你能学到 10 条关于软件工程的经验吗？

I don’t know; you tell me.我不知道，你告诉我吧。

Cheers!干杯！

OskarOskar

p.s. if you liked this one, check also:附：如果你喜欢这篇文章，也可以看看：

• Borys had the best dribbling,Borys 有最好的盘带技术，
• How playing on guitar can help you to be a better developer?弹吉他如何能让你成为一名更好的开发者？
• Don’t be like Ebenezer Scrooge. A few words about workaholism别做 Ebenezer Scrooge。关于工作狂的一些话

p.s.2. Ukraine is still under brutal Russian invasion. A lot of Ukrainian people are hurt, without shelter and need help. You can help in various ways, for instance, directly helping refugees, spreading awareness, and putting pressure on your local government or companies. You can also support Ukraine by donating, e.g. to the Ukraine humanitarian organisation, Ambulances for Ukraine or Red Cross.附 2：乌克兰仍处于俄罗斯残酷的入侵之下。许多乌克兰人民流离失所，无家可归，急需帮助。你可以通过多种方式提供支持，例如直接援助难民、传播真相，以及向当地政府或企业施压。你也可以通过向乌克兰人道主义组织、Ambulances for Ukraine 或红十字会等机构捐款来支持乌克兰。