Economic Decompression

My fellow scuba divers,
Listening to the news recently, I was shivering and shaking, hiding under the blanket with just my eyes peeking out to watch the report on the state of the world’s economy and how doomed we all were. Then if that wasn’t scary enough… the weather forecast came on next, don’t we ever get a break?!?!
But today as I was driving into the dive shop in 8 inches of show, and I got to thinking… this isn’t that bad. I’ve driven in much worse than this, and then I thought to myself, “You know self, these tough economic times are bad but, we’ve made it through some other rough times and still found ways to enjoy ourselves.” The conversation carried on in my head, but I won’t bore you with the details. Here is the point.
We scuba divers have a passion inside of us that has gotten us this far, or this deep, however you want to look at it. We find a way to afford the things that fuel the fire in our hearts, it may not be the $6,000 trip to the other side of the world… but we figure out a way to get down to Mexico or the Keys for a long weekend to reboot our brains and renew our perspective on life. We might not buy a big screen TV, unlimited cable channels, and the new luxury Lay-Z-Boy chair… but we might spend a fraction of that amount on some diving education that will allow us to use the gear we already have, on a new exciting adventure. We might not relax a weekend away at a luxury spa, but we might spend a weekend at the local quarry diving and living and relaxing in a way that no mud on your face can do, but mud underneath your neutrally buoyant dive team of friends surely can.
What I’m saying to you is, four score and seven years ago, I had a dream. I don’t remember it exactly because I woke up in a sweat and it was 4:30am, and I had to get up in a little bit because I had a busy day and I needed the rest. But the point is, if we spend all of our time worrying about the bad news that the news anchor might give us at 10:00, we are never going to get the good night sleep that is necessary to find the passion we need to really enjoy life. Diving has a way of cleansing your soul in a way that nothing else can, I can see it on all my customers when they achieve a new underwater goal, get an extra 10 minutes out of an air fill, dive a special wreck, capture the picture of a whale shark…. Doing that great dive is often the catalyst that puts their life on the right path to happiness.
Don’t worry, be happy… and go diving.
James Mott

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Comment by James Mott on February 10, 2009 at 10:26am: Very well stated Mike,
You always have some great phrases. I'm looking forward to the GLSF, see you in a few weeks.
James

Comment by Michael DeLuca on February 10, 2009 at 8:16am: Hi James,

Regarding the current "economic decmopression"
If you only walk on sunny days, you'll never get where you're going.

Best regards,
Michael DeLuca

P.S.
Sometimes you have to swim against the current, remember even a dead fish can go with the flow.

Comment by Matthew Mandziuk on January 30, 2009 at 10:11pm: Hi James,

Well said.

When my fiance and I were at Dema this past October in Las Vegas, it was very strange for us to see the number of billboards promoting foreclosure aids or the papers headlines reading such negative economic info. Every 2nd word in the papers and on radio was recession, recession.

I honestly believe that we are forced into a Media Driven recession or depression, as you can't not get pulled into this economic slump when it's in your face 24/7.

The fortunate thing with scuba diving is that we as a diving society are generally not on welfare, are generally somewhat educated, somewhat employed and are able to somehow get our dives in whether it's a charter dive or a shore dive. People make adjustments.

The great thing with our sport is how much better we feel after a dive. We can be miserable and tense, but when we exit the water, as our bodies break through the water, it's like our stress dissolves into the water and we are re-born in a much happier physical and mental state. No sport makes me feel this way.

We need to remeber how good it feels to dive and that diving is fun! Many people lose site of that and it's a shame. Even if we're in the dead of winter and can't afford to go south, why not jump in the pool with your LDS and practice skills and just enjoy breathing underwater?