Facing the Fear

 Ok Let's Talk: Scuba Diving

Want to know my top 2 biggest fears?

1. Bees (I literally get tourette's when they fly by me, I don't do it on purpose. I can't help it)

2. The Ocean aka open water, being submerged, being stranded, drowning, sharks. ALL OF IT

So what am I currently doing? Getting scuba certified. Am I crazy?

Let me start from the beginning of this madness. I have always had a firm no-getting-in-the-ocean-past-my-shins policy. As I think I have previously stated, I watch a lot of Animal Planet. A LOT. I can spew off some of the most random animal facts you can think of. For example, are you aware that the gestation period of a possum is between 16-18 days and when they are born they only have like, one eye and a claw? I think you get the idea of my random animal planet facts.

I have also been to my fair share of aquariums. One of which was the Baltimore Aquarium, which is one of the best aquariums in the country, and I learned about a small octopus that camouflages itself in very shallow sand right off of the beach and it's so poisonous that if you step on it you will literally be dead in 5 minutes. That began this said "no-getting-in-the-ocean-past-my-shins" policy. Luckily, those are only off the coast of Australia. Anyway, my point is this: all of this learning has freaked me out to actually get IN the ocean.

However, during Easter, Chris' uncle who is an avid diver showed us a few videos he made of him, Chris, Kamille, Heather, Christian and the rest of the diving clan while they were diving in Mexico. As I watched I was intrigued by the clear water and the fun that they seemed to be having so I, so bravely, informed Chris that "That actually looks fun, I would do it". That brave statement lasted about 10 minutes until Chris had the brilliant idea that I actually should get scuba certified so that I could go with him and his brother when we go to Cancun in a few short weeks. Insert foot in mouth. So yesterday we went to the scuba office and officially signed up for the week-long class. After signing the paperwork and initialing next to statements such as "we are not responsible for any underwater injuries" and "you are aware of the possible underwater complications" blah blah blah I came across an incredibly nice, albeit, white trash lady who was talking about her first diving experience. She nonchalantly told me that she ruptured her eardrum the first time she descended. Again, what was I thinking signing up for this?

So, I bought some very expensive, but apparently necessary scuba goggles and I'm currently going over all of the online classes before we meet next Monday and actually start doing the water part in an underwater crater (which actually sounds terrifying in and of itself)

Here's to hoping that I wont:

A. rupture an eardrum

B. have a panic attack

C. keel over due to sheer terror

D. All of the above

Cheers because I'm facing the fear!