Do something that scares you

Four years ago, I was terrified of the ocean. I had been my whole life which was probably due to watching Jaws too many times as a young child (my mom forbade it, but I'm a terrible listener).  I joined my family on their summer vacation to the Florida Keys that summer four years ago, so when my dad asked on the drive down if I was interested in going scuba diving, I automatically, without hesitation declined. Then something happened. We arrived at our hotel on Marathon Key to a beautiful bay side sunset and a complete stranger on the beach asked me why I was so afraid of the ocean. She said that at her ripe age of sixty seven, she could only tell me one thing about life: her life began when she stopped fearing and started jumping. She said in those moments in her life, she felt truly alive.  You meet amazing people like that down here in the Keys all the time.

Needless to say, this new way of thinking shook me to my core. Yes, the ocean, mighty, powerful, expansive, and mysterious did scare me, but it was time to overcome.

The next morning, I was trained on the basics of diving with a Discover Scuba course and within only four hours, I was ready for my first official dive.  After we boarded and rode to the site of our first dive, I zipped up my wet suit, put on my heavy gear, and got into the water. All was going perfectly, but my heart was racing a thousand miles an hour. At the surface, my scuba instructor looked me in my eyes and said, "you want to do this, you will fall in love with this."  I breathed, slowed my heart rate, and gave the ok to go down. Not only did all my fear leave me, but I felt the most wonderful sense of calm. The silence of being underwater is one of the most unique things I have ever experienced.

Now, four years later, I am finally going to become certified as an Open Water Scuba Diver. It's hard for me to believe that I was ever afraid of the water considering how desperately I want to be in it again. I long for that calm under the surface, taking those first few breaths, and seeing a world that looks nothing like ours on the surface. When I descend the surface, the big blue ocean embraces me, and I am welcomed. I have come a long way not only with those original fears of the ocean, but also with other day-to-day things. The experience taught me volumes about myself.  If something makes my heart race, it is in those moments that I feel undeniably alive.