Don't Panic! Remember What You Know. Lesson 3--Be Easier.

So lesson three from my summer vacation has to do with snorkeling, or at least the lesson came while snorkeling.  The first time I snorkeled, it was one of those experiences that you want to tell everyone about--'It's like a Jacques Cousteau special, but live and in full color and so darned close!" Who knew?

But what snorkeling also is, is attempting to put on flippers while wearing a goofy face mask and trying not to fall or drown as the waves pummel you.  It is trying to keep your mask sealed and clear so you are not swimming in a foggy haze as you attempt to not collide with the sharp corral.  It is also trying to breath through your mouth, as waves fill your snorkel and other snorkelers paying more attention to fish than people slam into you.  Fun huh?!

After that first experience of snorkel nirvana, I have spent many years trying to recreate that wonder and amazement. But not so much. Many of these experiences were about surviving a clutching sensation in my chest as I struggled to maneuver through this foreign landscape. I would panic if the reef looked too close. I would panic as I re-aligned my mask and snorkel. I would wear myself out judging what was going wrong, so that the amazing miracle of breathing underwater with a window on this world of color and shapes and animals and plants was just lost on me.

You might ask why keep going back? Can't I just find a nice aquarium to visit? I was feeling a bit of that on this trip--why struggle, is it really worth it?  Once you see one Picasso Triggerfish do you really need to see another??  Well actually, yes!  Walking with fear for the sake of beauty or adventure or being completely alive is worth it to me.  So, with rented gear I walk over to the beach--a cove with a reef full of fish and the occasional turtle, to see what I can see.

First comes the "helpful" voices in my head--"the waves are a bit rough, this is not going to be easy", and "You should have come with a buddy, you will never get your flippers on without help".  But then I stole a trick from the surfer I had seen earlier in the week.  I just stood on the sand and watched the cove--really just took it all in.  I saw for the first time the curve of the reef, and the paths that were free of rocks to walk into the water.  I also noticed where the families were splashing, verses where the snorkelers were hanging, and what routes the surfers were using.  Just observing the whole environment helped calm me down.  There was no rush and this wasn't my first rodeo.

Funny enough, my flippers slid right on--that was a first!  I followed the sandy path into the water and dove right in.  And while my rental mask wasn't perfect by any means, I suddenly remembered how to blow bubbles into it to clear out water. I did see all kinds of fish and corral. i even swam out a bit farther than planned and it was okay. When my snorkel got angled into the water so I was breathing ocean instead of air, I didn't panic.  I stopped, made an adjustment and kept going.

Dang, how many times do I start panicking or kicking myself for "not knowing better" right now? During how many proposals or presentations do I make up a story that "I've never been here before" or "I don't know what the right answer or right way is" so I get that clutching feeling in my chest?

What if it were as easy as remembering that I have tools? That I have swum in deep water before--maybe not this pool, but a lot of the basics are the same. What if moving forward, or getting to the goal, were as easy as "stop, make an adjustment, then keep going"?

The bottom line for me was to Be Easier--breathe more, don't panic, use my tools, roll with the waves, I've have been here before, keep going. I hope you have an easy Autumn.