Good things about life, learned from scuba.

[nolatom]

I was thinking about how some of us learn from parents and schools, some of us from books, but most of us from experience?

("Experience is a tough teacher, she gives the test first and the lesson afterwards". I don't know who said that, but it wasn't me.)

But some of the useful things I've learned in my limited scuba experience over the past 15 years or so:


Humility-- the ocean is more powerful than I am, I'd better learn its rules (Boyle's, Dalton's, many others).

Take advice, and listen to instruction-- everything in that PADI book I got, was there for a reason.

More humility, and respect for Nature--"welcome to the food chain, folks, you're no longer on top"

Knowing when your "point of no return" is, *before* you've reached and passed it-- air, nitrogen, oxygen, ocean current to name just a few.

Remaining calm during what seems initially like task-overload--"Stop, Breathe, Think, Act", *in that order, not the other way around*

Saving something for the other guy/girl--My last 500 pounds is for you, and vice-versa.

Get good equipment, and take care of it-- It's life support, the downside to cheap or neglected gear is not attractive and will happen at the worst possible time.

Meeting new people, getting to know them, and taking a chance on them, it generally works out-- we (or "I") call this, the "instabuddy"

Respect for those who went before us--"real" wrecks we dive

Honesty--inflate your BC or wing, but not your experience and knowledge, in the pre-dive buddy chat.

Appreciation for the beauty of Nature-- we get to see stuff first-hand that most people don't

Knowing your limits-- sometimes, chasing one possible casualty will result in two casualties. Learn when to call a dive.

Paying it Forward-- buddy with the newbie, just as the more experienced buddies tolerated and taught you when you were the newbie

Being observant-- what's around you, good or bad? is that diver narced, and needs to come up 20 feet? Do you note on the way out, what it will look like on the way back?

Giving encouragement, or at least constructive rather than belittliing criticism-- I've been on both ends of this one, honey helps the medicine go down.

Listening in class-- okay, this one is not experienced-based as such, but the instructor's voice, remembered, got me out of a couple of scrapes that could have been worse.


Okay, those are the habits and character traits I thought of, and I'm still learning. Others??

 

[DiverDean59]

I was thinking about how some of us learn from parents and schools, some of us from books, but most of us from experience?

("Experience is a tough teacher, she gives the test first and the lesson afterwards". I don't know who said that, but it wasn't me.)

But some of the useful things I've learned in my limited scuba experience over the past 15 years or so:


Humility-- the ocean is more powerful than I am, I'd better learn its rules (Boyle's, Dalton's, many others).

Take advice, and listen to instruction-- everything in that PADI book I got, was there for a reason.

More humility, and respect for Nature--"welcome to the food chain, folks, you're no longer on top"

Knowing when your "point of no return" is, *before* you've reached and passed it-- air, nitrogen, oxygen, ocean current to name just a few.

Remaining calm during what seems initially like task-overload--"Stop, Breathe, Think, Act", *in that order, not the other way around*

Saving something for the other guy/girl--My last 500 pounds is for you, and vice-versa.

Get good equipment, and take care of it-- It's life support, the downside to cheap or neglected gear is not attractive and will happen at the worst possible time.

Meeting new people, getting to know them, and taking a chance on them, it generally works out-- we (or "I") call this, the "instabuddy"

Respect for those who went before us--"real" wrecks we dive

Honesty--inflate your BC or wing, but not your experience and knowledge, in the pre-dive buddy chat.

Appreciation for the beauty of Nature-- we get to see stuff first-hand that most people don't

Knowing your limits-- sometimes, chasing one possible casualty will result in two casualties. Learn when to call a dive.

Paying it Forward-- buddy with the newbie, just as the more experienced buddies tolerated and taught you when you were the newbie

Being observant-- what's around you, good or bad? is that diver narced, and needs to come up 20 feet? Do you note on the way out, what it will look like on the way back?

Giving encouragement, or at least constructive rather than belittliing criticism-- I've been on both ends of this one, honey helps the medicine go down.

Listening in class-- okay, this one is not experienced-based as such, but the instructor's voice, remembered, got me out of a couple of scrapes that could have been worse.


Okay, those are the habits and character traits I thought of, and I'm still learning. Others??

Well put. I especially like "Honesty--inflate your BC or wing, but not your experience and knowledge, in the pre-dive buddy chat."

I would add ---- Be careful not to become complacent.

 

[MaxBottomtime]

Stop and smell the roses. Many divers seem to be in a hurry to get to the next rock or try to cover as much ground as possible during a dive. It amazes me how many beautiful animals are missed by not stopping to see what is on that rock, sponge, blade of algae or sand.

 

[TSandM]

The less you work at something, sometimes the better it goes. Diving got better for me when I could relax and trust that I could do it.

Knowledge enriches everything. The more I learned, whether it was about decompression theory, marine life, or photography, the more fascinating my diving became.

One of the best gifts you can give yourself is to pass along what you have learned. Whether it has been writing posts on ScubaBoard or working with students or novice divers in the water, my own diving has been richer for helping others.

 

[Z Gear]

I've learned that scuba can provide you with a way to be a happier person by having a means of relaxing the mind by enjoying a dive at a slow pace. This is important to me because I am usually racing everywhere to get things done up on land. Down there I turn into relax man and my mind really loves this. Its like mental therapy for me! I guess the lesson of slowing down to appreciate things is really something that scuba diving is making me aware of.

Diving has provided an activity to which I feel brings me and my wife closer.It has taught me, in a way to be more considerate toward her, and I think it brought out good things in our relationship. We really enjoy diving together and she is my favorite dive buddy.

 

[Iralub]

"Stop, think, act" applies will to all areas of life.

Also, for me, it taught me that I can do things I didn't think I could. I didn't think I'd be able to dive, let alone enjoy it (lack of confidence in my physical abilities). It was amazing to discover how few problems I had once in the water and how much I enjoyed it. The only regret is not trying it earlier.

 

[TMHeimer]

To be honest, I really don't think it's helped me in other aspects of life. Divemastering has been rewarding in that I got my toe back into education after retiring from teaching in 1996. Diving itself--I only got certified because we moved from inland to right on the ocean, so this has benefitted my shell collecting hobby. And, it's enjoyable and something to do. I could do without all the gearing up in thick wetsuit, rinsing for an hour, etc. But really, I'm no different from before I started 10 years ago-- and back then I wasn't much different than 30+ years before that. I'm a Routine Man.