Therapy

In addition to property management and performing training and education, one of my job’s is diving, I am in the water several days a week performing maintenance on the aquarium or leading dive groups for a guest underwater experience where I work at Disney.    In a few weeks I will be embarking on a vacation to a Caribbean island and take a guess what I will be doing!  Ok... you guessed!    So my wife and I were talking after watching a show where a boss goes undercover in a ski resort where he is the Chief Executive Officer.  One of the workers who is a ski instructor communicates he wants to go on vacation and visit a ski location in Alaska.  My wife turns to me and says, “sounds like you.”  Now some might say I’m obsessed with diving and if you looked at my garage and the amount of gear I have as well as the pictures of the underwater world I have on my computer, guilty as charged.    You also need to understand my wife is not a diver, however; she loves to travel with me to exotic destinations.  She can been seen waving at me as the boat leaves the dock, and laying in a hammock on a white sandy beach with a good book and a cocktail in hand when I return (umbrella and fruit usually included). For you married divers, the true definition of a safety stop is; “picking up flowers on the way home from a dive trip.”

So, why do I go on vacation and dive when I dive almost every day at work?  I can sum it up in one word, “therapy.”  Those who have found the tranquility of the underwater world understand what I am talking about.  No cell phones, internet, text messages, or other life distractions can be found on a reef at forty feet.   Nothing but my bubbles and the natural environment that took thousands of years to create and is there for me to take in, and for a change (no offense to those I lead on dive groups or act as safety diver for) I don’t have to watch anyone else.  It’s just me and my aquatic friends, and there is nothing like it anywhere else!  As the commercial goes: Cost of a new dive knife…. $60.  Boat trip to a reef with my friends ….$100.  Hours underwater in a world others only see on National Geographic and experiencing it personally…Priceless!  To watch a shark as he stalks a reef, see a sting ray as he hides himself in the sand, or view beautiful angelfish as they dance across the coral, it is a world special to me.

We may dive for different reasons.  To escape the stresses at work and use it as therapy.  To teach others what diving is all about.  To share what we see with others through photography and video.  To study the animals we see and even some we cannot without the use of a microscope.  To check on the changes our planet is going through and perhaps find ways to protect it for generations to come.  To discover new species and perhaps understand more about our past.  To go where others have never gone before and set new records.  No matter what the reason, diving has become a hobby for some and an occupation for others; and there is nothing wrong with using my talents of my occupation as a conduit for enjoying it as a hobby.   So the next time you call my home and ask if I am able to come to the phone and I’m on a dive trip, don’t be surprised when my wife replies, “Sorry, he’s not available he’s in therapy.”  I just hope it’s not someone calling to ask me about the submission of my resume for a job.  Doubt I will get the interview with that response.