Swimming with Sharks

Literally!! So I'm sitting at my desk eating lunch and trying hard not to hear the people in the breakroom when I hear one of the women mention a TV program she saw about swimming with sharks. And both women immediately talk about what a crazy idea that is. And who on earth would want to do that? And all I'm thinking is Me! I want to do that. Actually I've done that.



Mind you these are also women who keep referring to Orcas as sharks. So much so that I am tempted to go in and correct them. But I don't.



But this conversation gets me thinking about thrill seeking. Now I am a coward, self-proclaimed. I am not the thrill seeking type. Death is not an idea I'm comfortable with. But we just bought life insurance and I'm rated high risk because I scuba dive. And diving is something that I love and fear at the same time. I am enchanted when I'm down there. I am awed by the fish and coral. I've even swam through an underwater forest, an experience I will never forget. But I worry about diving too. Not the idea of a shark, sharks don't scare me. But drowning. I'm terrified of that.



So all I can think while I listen to this conversation is how there is a much larger threat than sharks underwater. The water itself. But the experience is so worth it that you just get past the fear. And remind yourself that your scuba instructor was an 80 year old man who had been diving for 50 something years. Who dove with the Navy when they developed tables, and dove to depths I can't even imagine. If he can do it, so can I.



By the way, most divers don't fear sharks but do worry about barracudas. Guess what my first fish I saw while diving was.

Photo by Gary Friend-NE Point Turks and Caicos