Scuba Diving – A Story Of A Life-Changing Experience
There's a reason I'm telling you about this, and it has to do with a major life change for me.
As a child I can remember going snorkelling with my Dad when we were on holiday in Majorca. I was fascinated with the different coloured fish, despite being a little nervous.
Somewhere along the way, I developed some kind of wierd phobia. Even though I was a keen swimmer at school, I had never liked opening my eyes under water.
So I don't know what caused the fear. It might have been reading the Peter Benchley book 'Jaws'. The opening chapter about a shark attack would be enough to make most people never want to go in the ocean again. Cheers Pete!!!
In 1996, when I began running my backpackers business in Perth, some of the dive companies offered to take me for free, but I didn't want to know.
I had become comfortable with my irrational fear.
In April 2005, I went travelling up North with my Swedish girlfriend at the time, the lovely Vicky and found myself agreeing to go snorkeling with a whale shark.
Despite seeing reef sharks in the water (timid creatures, but still sharks!), I conquered that fear and swam with one of God's greatest creatures. Whale sharks are plankton eaters and are no harm to us humans.
It was a life-changing experience!
I swam right alongside this gentle giant, looking it straight in the eye for 13 minutes and the feeling of tranquility was indescribable. This one was only 4½ metres long, but still pretty big. I have since swum with one that was 8½ metres long - awesome.
The following year, I was visiting my English girlfriend at the time, the lovely and inspirational Sarah Thompson, who had been posted to work in Alice Springs. This will sound ridiculous to many people, but she encouraged me to open my eyes under water in a swimming pool that was as far away from the ocean as you can get!
Then, in February 96, Sarah and I were on a break at Rottnest Island with my two kids, Craig and Kim. I took Kim out snorkeling, just as my father had introduced me to the marine world and I held her hand. She was afraid of fish but she still had a go.
Sarah was a keen scuba diver, so when she announced she was going diving, Craig and I decided we would also take a trial dive.
Kim came out on the boat but decided that sunbathing and chatting up the crew was more her thing!
That day was another turning point in my life - I was hooked on the idea of scuba diving!
If you had told me a few years ago that I would one day be taking a mask off underwater, putting it back on and blowing the water out of it, I would have laughed at you.
The following month I did my PADI Open Water Course. The month after, I did my PADI Advanced Course, and the month after that I was on a dive trip with a Dive Club up at Exmouth's amazing Ningaloo Reef.
Now qualified PADI Rescue Divers, my wonderful wife, Jo and I travel the world, with a key element usually including at least a few days of diving.
The funny thing was that for the first few dives with Jo, she was so nervous that she had to hold my hand!
Nowadays we find ourselves diving as deep as 6o metres in World War 2 shipwrecks, taking photographs of everything from sharks to little, brightly coloured sea slugs.
The moral of the story:
Don't let your fears hold you a back from a bright new world of opportunities!
You have the power to change from within and live the life of your dreams.
There will probably be more stories involving scuba diving on this site in my blog as the right moment presents itself.
So in the words of author Susan Jefferson, I encourage you to do as I did and 'Feel the Fear and Do It Anyway!'
If you'd like some assistance with a problem you are having in facing change and coping with it, then please leave me a message via the website contact form or by phoning 0419 860 382 and I'll get back to you.