I am my experience: Diving Notes

I went diving in a lake called Boulder Dam next door. I never thought that my first dive would not be in Thailand, Malaysia, Philippines, or Maldives, but in Las Vegas in the desert! While driving to the diving spot, I thought about such a strange arrangement of fate, and I was having fun alone in the car.

Origin

When I first came to Vegas, I went to apply for a phone card. As soon as I walked in, there were two people standing in front of the counter. One was a skinny boy who looked like a sun-dried Japanese fisherman. And a girl with a round face with a mark from a diving goggle. I couldn't hold it back and laughed wildly for ten minutes and asked, "What did you two do?" They said, "I went diving recently."

In this way, before buying a phone card, I decided to take the diving test too. certificate. When I went snorkeling in Thailand at the beginning of the year, my friend told me to go diving without the kids. I think shit, I still can't dive. Study hard while you are alone during your vacation, and you can dive along during your next vacation. It may be a split second, but it comes from love.

When fate knocks on the door, be brave enough to greet it. Sometimes opening the door is a good thing, and sometimes it's not. Who knows, but there is a gift in whatever you experience.

Preparation:

The PADI Diving Club assigned me a personal instructor named Russ. Originally, I was a little afraid of diving. After all, I am not a very good person in the water. When I saw Coach Russ, I felt like my back was straightened. Russ is a retired Marine from the United States. He worked as a diving instructor on Maui Island in Hawaii for 8 years. He is now a Las Vegas police officer. I speak fluent Japanese because my wife is Japanese. It would be even better if you can speak Chinese. I think too much, hahaha...

Start training:

There are so many accessories for diving. I also have to carry a very heavy gas cylinder. You have to breathe underwater to prevent your lungs from exploding. After diving deeply, there will be a lot of pressure in the ears. You need to be able to balance the ear pressure, otherwise problems will occur. Fortunately, Russ is a great coach, and the best thing is that he brought his own camera. Every moment in the water is very precious to me. I just imagine swimming with dolphins in the sea in the swimming pool.

A little test of skills

We made an appointment with Russ to meet up at 7 o'clock for open water diving. Las Vegas is a desert, the weather is extremely hot, there is no sea, only a lake. I heard that there were no fish in the lake, but there was a sunken ship.

So, load up the equipment on the car and hit the road...

Advertising break: I have been doing Ford's customer experience service project in China for two years. Russ happened to drive a red Ford pickup truck and changed the outdoor tires himself. Very manly. Advertise Ford!

Dive into the bottom of the lake

Putting all the clothes on and diving into the lake is like diving into the womb of Mother Earth. Looking around, there is water all around and it is warm. An indescribable feeling. This is probably the most self-healing thing. I am very grateful for this opportunity. I seized this experience and made it my own. We dived to a depth of 5 meters and continued swimming to the sunken ship at a depth of 10 meters.

In an instant, my ears began to swell, and my head hurt like a knife. The pain was so painful that I couldn't think straight and felt dizzy. I gestured to Russ and we surfaced. I never thought that my rhinitis would set a barrier here. For so many years, I haven’t been able to do anything about rhinitis, and I haven’t put much effort into treating it. All the problems you don't care about will always be waiting for you in one place. And this time it was in the lake. After resting on the lake for a while, I tried again. Every time I dived to a certain depth, my head started to hurt. Painful dizziness. At this time, something magical happened. In this lake known as "fishless", a fish as big as two palms appeared in front of us. My thought flashed, "This must be the fish sent by God to calm me down." I looked into the fish's eyes, and the fish was very calm. Her eyes seemed to say to me, "Take care!" Then she wagged her tail and disappeared.

After 3 hours, I was exhausted and surfaced, ending the dive.

Russ did not forget to encourage me when he came ashore, "you did a great job." I am very grateful to him. He arranged the equipment and placed them in the car one by one. As for me, I took off my thick wetsuit and took the opportunity to bask in the sun.

On the way back, Russ asked me, "Next week, a few friends and I will go diving in Maui, Hawaii. Will you go?" I looked at him and asked, "Why go to Maui?" He said, "Because you can go diving there with us." Dolphins swim, and there are many beautiful fish and corals.”

Russ’ story

I asked Russ “What is your most unforgettable diving experience?” He thought for a moment and said. "Swimming with whales."

Me: "Open your eyes wide, wow, what did you think of when you saw the whale?" I thought I would be scared to death if I saw it.

Russ said: "Fear, that was the first reaction. The whale was more than 20 meters long, but I knew he would not hurt me."

I asked him again, are you there? Marine Corps, you have never left Japanese waters in all these years?

Russ said “I went to Iraq/Iran to fight.

"

My eyes widened, "What? Why do you speak so calmly! Was there a war going on when you went? "

Russ: "Hit it. We were shooting from the car, and the outside was shooting at us. I definitely killed people, but I survived, my friends weren't so lucky. "?

I continued to stare wide-eyed: "You said all this so calmly. Did these experiences change your perspective on life? ”

Russ: “Yeah, when I was discharged from the army in the first year, I couldn’t adapt to the life back. When driving on the road, always be vigilant and observe the vehicles in front and behind you. But it's fine now. I work as a police officer in Vegas and it's not uncommon. "

I said: "Yes, Vegas is a crazy place."

Russ said "Suicide, murder, Dead Baby, jumping off the building..."

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I turned to look at him, Russ was still so calm! ?

He said, "So, I still have two years, and I want to go back to Maui and drink beer on the beach in two years." , guarding my sea. Life doesn't have to be complicated. "

I stared at Russ, and the words that Teacher Simon had been saying suddenly came out: "I'm that I'm./I am that I am." "

I am my experience. Everyone has to go through it themselves. Get their own peace and their own blueprint. Everyone is "the one I am". ?

He sighed deeply, he must be tired.

Another sentence comes to mind:

“Wisdom is the reward for surviving our own stupidity.”

― Brian Rathbone, Regent