Acting On Desire And Diving In

May 14, 2018 Cancun, MX - 9am Poolside

The day before I was asked if I was interesting in going Scuba diving in the ocean along the coral reefs of Cancun. My first thought was "Hell Yes" followed quickly by feelings of fear and excuses. Its amazing how quickly our brains turn against us. Our dreams of adventure can quickly be shadowed by a cloud of doubt. But on that day, before I changed my mind I said "Count me in."

The next morning I found myself by the side of the pool about to take a quick summary class on how not to die in the ocean and how to use the scuba equipment properly amongst a few other necessary skills while under water in the ocean. I passed all the tests with flying colors.

Several hours later...

A little scared but still very excited I headed out with a group to the ocean via boat to be dropped in above the reef. All suited up I dropped in and very quickly realized I was going to have some issues. I had a very hard time breathing. Sadly I couldn't figure out my situation so while the rest of the group went exploring I sat several meters under the ocean surface trying to learn how to brief properly. After several minutes it was no use, I couldn't do it. I felt defeated.

I promised myself years ago that I wanted to be in good enough shape that if I ever wanted to try and do something I could without my health being a factor. Here I am in the ocean trying to scuba and I can't. Life gave me lemons so I decided to make the best lemonade I could. I ended up snorkeling for 2 hours above the reef while following the boat that brought us around. This kinda of frustrated me more. I can't handle the breathing but I can swim on the surface of the ocean for 2 hours without a life jacket...seriously.

What I took away from this experience.

Even though I had issues and wasn't able to scuba properly I did take some positive things away from my experience. Firstly, I am definitely going to try it again. I am determined in fact to make sure the next time I will be able to do it. I am even considering taking a scuba certification class to become a certified diver. The hardest part for me was actually deciding to give scuba diving a try. For years instead to acting on my feelings to do new things, I listened to the little voice inside my head who made up excuses to talk myself out of it. Over the past few weeks I have been acting on my impulses and its made a world of difference in my life. Be prepared to see more little stories such as this.