I’m not the most adventurous person you’ll meet. It’s not so glamorous thing to say, but it’s the truth. I consider myself courageous, but my bar was very low as an ordinary Korean nerd who was brought up in a conservative family. Spending night in the mountains to photograph stars was considered a behavior of a rebel.
Against all odds, I’m doing the craziest adventure, traveling the world. How did I turn out like this? Beyond me (ask my parents, they seriously questioned themselves.)
But there are certain things I’m not so proud of. I’m not good with a bike (still traumatized by the big bike accident). Worms are my biggest enemies. I don’t drive (I can, but I’m inexperienced – I blame Seoul). I love swimming in the open water, but the thought of mysterious creature pulling my leg underwater is vividly alive (watched too many horror movies as a kid?) I hate horror movies, and darkness. Mosquitoes love me for some reason, and I have a bad reaction to it. And the lamest of all, I’m almost blind without my contact lens (this post from Buzzfeed is the reality). Secretly, I’m terrified with fast speed.
I’m up for trying most of everything. Weird food? Bring on the deep fried frogs! Hiking? As long as my legs work, I’m game. Lake swimming? Why not? Biking around the town? I’m terrified but I’ll try. But I always draw the line at diving. So many excuses: What if I hit my goggle and lost my contacts? And it hurts like hell! What if I lost my prescription goggle underwater? Prescription goggle is so expensive. What if I lost control of my oxygen level? What if I lost my oxygen tank? What if we meet sharks? A series of very logical questions, I’d say. No?
During my travels, I stumbled into some of the most amazing diving beaches. It was affordable, safe (they said), and well managed. Because of budget, and my natural laziness, I always let the opportunities slip by me. Reasons? Same as always.
After meeting so many professional and leisure divers, my list of excuses shrined little by little. It’s another way of seeing this world, and I won’t dive alone anyway, so most of my fears can be quiet now. I can’t fix my eyes, but there are alternatives.
So I decided to learn how to dive when I’m in the right place. It seems not so scary after all. But most of all, I’m done making excuses. I’m just going to be a bad-ass. I mean, what’s the worst thing could happen? Well, I could die, but highly unlikely (I’ve been told). Since I won’t be diving alone (I don’t think you are supposed to anyway), they won’t leave me underwater to die. I can invest a little more to get the prescription goggles (remember the scene from Notting Hill?). I have to commit to follow the diving schedule to get the certificate, but that’s an easy part. The reasons that made me say no seem quite silly now. It can be solved by one question: why not?
This little determination is connected to the attitude in general. As I mentioned in my life lessons I’ve learned from Tina Fey, it’s important to AGREE. Life is like improvisation comedy. When my beloved partner named life presents me a situation, I have to agree, and make the solution. Scuba diving is a simple example. Maybe I won’t look for a place to learn diving anytime soon, but I won’t say no to the opportunity in the future. I made a peace with my mind. It isn’t easy as a (almost) blind person to jump into the water, but it’s not the worst thing. I’m done making excuses. I’m agreeing. Maybe I want to jump from the bridge someday, who knows?
How about you? What’s your diving in life?
