Edith Yeung.com Dream Think Act

Let me admit something to you, I am not a very good swimmer. In fact, I am actually afraid of water.  I am not quite sure why.  That’s the way I am I guess.  My parents did take me for swimming lesson when I was 10.  I remember trying to tread water, but I never quite mastered that skill.  I would always sink.  Every time the water rose up to my nose, I would start moving frantically again. I would stay afloat for a short while and then start sinking again. 

Maybe I was just too old to learn a new trick?  Maybe 10 years old was just too old for kids to learn a new skill such as swimming?  I wonder if any research has been done to prove that.  Anyway, it didn’t really matter.  By then it was already too late for me.  My parents weren’t very good swimmers themselves anyway.   Perhaps I really should not blame my parents.   Since I wasn’t very good anyway, I never took the initiative to get better. If my parents weren’t that great at it, why should I be?  At least that was what I thought at the time.  Plus, I just didn’t enjoy breathing water through my nose. 

In 1999, I did my first scuba dive ever, it was at the Great Barrier Reef.  How in the world does a non-swimmer like me become a scuba diver?  Well, my answer for you would be diving is not about swimming, but rather it is about sinking.  I still remember my first dive.  We were in the middle of the Great Barrier Reef.  There were about 20 of us.  19 of them were experienced divers except guess who?  Me.  After driving out on the boat for an hour, once we arrived at the dive site, everyone was eager to immediately jump in the water.  My dive instructor waited patiently for me while I slowly put on all my gear.  I sat on the edge of the boat, looking down at the water, having second thoughts.  That was quite a moment.  I was afraid.   

First jump.  I took the plunge, literally.  I jumped in and guess what?  I sank and the water immediately filled up my mask.  ‘No way in hell am I doing this’, I thought to myself.  I went back up on the boat.   

Second jump.  I was determined to scuba dive.  I got into the water again.  This time I could see all my boat mates under the water waiting for me to join them.  The tough part now was not only was there water coming up to my nose, it was coming into my nose!  How in the world should I breathe without my nose?   

Third jump.  After I climbed back on the boat, it was getting obvious my instructor was getting a bit impatient.  “Are you going to do this or not?” he asked me.  “I am trying”, I replied.  Trust me I was really trying.  I guess I should have just told my friends up front I was a bad swimmer.  I really wanted to join my friends down there.  I could see them waving at me.  I paused and thought to myself ‘I only live once’.  If I am going to die because of this, at least I’m going to die trying.  I took a DEEP breath.  I sank.  This time my whole body was submerged into the water.  I was completely under water.   

For the first 5 minutes, I constantly wanted to resurface. I had little bubbles coming out from my nose. I got scared and wanted to go back, but my instructor held my hand tightly and gave me a look of assurance indicating that ‘I will be fine’.  I concentrated, I relaxed.  I started breathing again.  In fact, the only sound I could hear was my breathing.  It was the strangest feeling ever for me.  It was so quiet yet there were so many creatures, including many types of fish and even saw a shark, albeit a small one.  It was amazingly beautiful!  As a diver, you shouldn’t really go fast.  In fact you should keep your movement slow and small so you don’t disturb the sea life around you.  It was absolutely a different world down there.  It felt like walking on Mars, I was in another world.  It was beautiful and peaceful. 

For me, leaving Corporate America was just like sitting on the edge of the dive boat for the very first time.  I was so accustomed to breathing through my nose.  I was so familiar with the old way, I couldn’t immediately see how it could work in a new environment.  How do people adjust and adapt so quickly?  I had to face my biggest fear and learn something new about myself in order to survive.  The truth is, once you make the first move, everything else falls into place.  Even for those who are afraid of water and don’t swim well, I know you can still make it.  I knew I made it. 

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