FOR THE LONGEST time, I have this love-hate relationship with any body of water. While without a doubt would I openly profess my love for the sea, I often admire it from the shore. That while I am first in line to ride a boat, I am often last to jump from it for a dip. And while I wish to learn more of the underwater marine life, I wish to see them in their natural habitat instead of behind theme park pools. And while I am deathly afraid of the high seas, I have longed to explore its lowest depths.
At some point, I thought to myself: Why don’t you give it a try? The sea has become a glass ceiling of sorts—a limitation I have set for myself—that I have to break. Or jump into.
It doesn’t help too that I come from a peninsula from the south. Stereotypes aside, my creds just went down the drain on this one. After all, our side of Mindanao is home to sea gypsies, muro-amis and the best marineros on this side of the world. I hate to admit that I have only learned how to swim last year, not for sport, but for survival when thoughts of floods in the metro became very real threats every time a typhoon hits land. (Yes, Ondoy was a compelling reason!)
What’s next after learning to swim? To dive, of course! So when the opportunity of learning how to dive came, I threw myself at the chance. What escapes me is why it took me so long to get this on—even years—to act on the very idea of daring to jump from the plank.
And really, when we think about it, the road to learning anything is in the willingness. So I did it in baby steps. I enlisted in a scuba diving intro course from master diver Jojo Ng at Vistamar Mares Building in Makati, hopefully gaining the smarts and more importantly—the courage—to dive.
So down to the pool pits we go! Up next: the PADI (or SSI) license and the open sea! ###
