John and I spent 7 days in Cozumel in late December. We picked Cozumel for one reason—it’s one of the best spots for scuba diving in the Caribbean. We got eight dives in while we were there (my personal goal for the trip) and I feel like I finally acquired my “scuba legs” after being certified since April 2007.
Our diving experience was outstanding. We dove with a top-notch dive operation, Sand Dollar Sports, located right at our resort. We literally got up at 7 am, ate breakfast and walked to the dive shop where our gear and boat were waiting for our 8 am departure. The staff even helped us set up our gear each day. Each boat had no more than 16 divers (one day there were just 7 of us) and we had fantastic dive masters—both of our DMs were named Sergio and they were highly competent and helpful.
The highlight of the experience for me was achieving the level of self-mastery I was seeking. I still have a lot to learn but now I have a new level of confidence. I feel comfortable with the equipment and how everything works and I finally managed to achieve neutral buoyancy thanks to experimenting with my weights and learning to use my breath and BC to fine tune.
I reached a new depth record—80 feet—on this trip. I thought being so deep might cause a mental hiccup, but it didn’t.
I enjoyed the camaraderie of the other divers. We traded stories, shared diving tips, exchanged ideas about new dive spots to add to our list (Bonaire is high on the list now) and relished in the re-experiencing of our dives once we were out of the water. “Did you see the turtle! I thought that barracuda was going to come after me! How about that eel—that was the hugest I’ve ever seen!” You can’t talk when you’re under the water, so it all gets saved up for the boat ride.
We met some super people along the way, most notably a family from Queens, New York—a dad and his two kids, a son, 11, and a daughter, 13. We dove with them four times. The kids’ ease and confidence in the water had a calming affect on me. (Hey, if an 11 and 13 year can do this, so can I!)
Underwater I was in a whole new world. Because the water was so clear, I was able to enjoy the big picture view of the entire underwater scene (i.e. the geologic formation of the reefs with all of us swimming along) as well as to enjoy the little picture of the life teeming in the nooks and crannies of the colorful corals. The coral is like one big playground for the fish with lots of caves to hide in and escape from predators.
One of our dives was particularly beautiful and fun. Rather than hug the bottom of the floor, the coral jutted out of the sea to create huge, glorious free-standing formations. This particular spot had several swim thrus where we literally swam through small underwater tunnels to get from one part of the coral to the next. We could have swum over it, but it was much for fun to swim through it! We followed the DM and each other, single file, from one end to the next. Fortunately for me could always see the “light at the end of the tunnel.” The scuba experience itself is not claustrophobic but the swim thrus did give me a bit of a pause! In the end, excitement won out.
On dive #5 I did have a bit of a moment of panic under the water. When we first descended to our new dive spot, we had to swim against the current for a stretch. Then we dropped along a wall and were picked up by the current at the start of the fun part of the dive. By this time, we were down 80 feet. I had a hard time getting enough air in my lungs and started to panic. I couldn’t figure out what was going on and why I was breathing so hard. All I wanted to do was get that regulator out of my mouth and take a huge breath, but that wasn’t going to work under water! My mind was racing, “I can’t get enough air! What am I going to do? I need to go to the surface! I can’t spoil this dive for the others!” I was also trying to talk myself into a calmer state, “You’ll be alright. You have plenty of air. Diving is 90% mental—you can get through this. You’ll catch your breath. Look at John—there he is; he won’t let anything happen to you.” Somehow I managed to come out of it and to reach a calm place where I knew I could make it through the rest of the dive. Later that day I was reading my dive book back in our room and figured out that I was contending with overexertion—it’s the number one problem divers experience underwater. Between being overexerted from swimming against the current, which caused me to take frequent, deep breaths, and the need to breath deeper to get the same amount of air from the tank (a natural consequence of the air pressure and unnoticeable with you’re calm and cool), I had a hard time getting enough air. I didn’t know what was happening then and only figured it out in retrospect. I’ve learned a valuable lesson for the future—one I could only learn through experience. (I also learned that if I focus my attention from me to the fish and corals and other divers, enjoying the majesty of it all, that I get quickly distracted and “out of my head” and am able to relax and enjoy the moment.)
Becoming a scuba diver is a metaphor for living my life. It’s taught me that I can try something new and scary and succeed. I never thought diving would be for me—it was so far off my radar screen. When John asked me to learn, his confidence in me and knowing he’d be diving with me was enough for me to at least give it a try. And now I’ve done it. I’ve conquered my fears, gone through proper training, and gone on several dives. I’ve earned my scuba legs and I love it. I love the feeling of accomplishment, I love sharing the experience with John and I love being in the ocean along with the marine life—it’s peaceful, exciting, relaxing and almost spiritual. It’s another way to experience the beauty of the natural world and to come face-to-face with our creator. I’ve also learned more about the power of the mind—if I can change my thoughts, I can change my experience.
At the age of 41, I have a new perspective on what I’m capable of and I am far more willing to consider new possibilities. I saw a quote from Peter Walsh (a popular organizing guru.) In an interview he was asked, “What’s the best change you’ve ever made?” His answer: “Realizing I can do whatever I want.”
What’s next?
