Fully Engage

Life is stressful today. We are always under pressure to do more with less, and the stress seems to keep building year after year. Luckily for some of us, we have diving. A way to get away from it all. No emails. No cell phones. Just being underwater blowing bubbles. In our happy place. Free from it all, where our problems go away….
 
*Record Scratches*
 
But wait! What if you run out of air? What if an O-ring fails?? What if you lose your buddy??? What if… sharks or something????
 
The reality is that we are always playing poker with the fates when we breathe underwater. You can open any scuba accident and incident report from any year and see that they are filled with fatalities from very shallow waters and well within NDL limitations. Dives that start off as a way to get away from it all, that ironically end with that very thing… literally. Dead.
 
I challenge you to rethink your “get away from it all” mentality underwater, and instead to “fully engage yourself.” Go all in. Go 100% into what you are doing underwater.
 
Things happen when we are diving. Weird, unusual, and unexpected things happen all the time. Usually, at the worst time. The accident isn’t even caused by that weird thing, but rather how the diver reacted to the situation because they were turned off and just blowing bubbles and enjoying the moment. They were not fully engaged with being underwater.
 
Unfortunately, as divers, we can’t just quit and give up when things go wrong like you can in a driveway basketball game, or a bike ride, or family reunion cornhole match.
 
For a diver, if the stress starts building underwater and the urge to quit and bailout of the game rises, it means there is a likelihood of a serious injury and possible fatality. Every foot of depth and minute of time that passes for a diver puts them further into a place where no matter how bad it gets; they must remain calm and clear headed.
 
It’s a conundrum that divers face, where the time they could have an anxious moment that leads to panic will most certainly come at the worst possible time for a panic situation to occur. Even the most mundane and recreational of dives will have most likely invited some type of a decompression obligation that requires them to stay underwater and not do what they want to do which is quit and go to the surface and get out.
 
In "The Essentials," I teach divers how to fully engage and how to take ownership of their diving. To know what your gauges will show before you look at them. To know exactly where your buddy is before you look for them. To start every dive always assuming the worst, so that you are ready to bring out your best.
 
It is the opposite of every other class you’ve taken.
 
It is the opposite of buying expensive computers and gadgets to make your diving easier and safer. Instead, it is learning to fully engage into the dive so that you are safer because you are fully present and aware.