5 Things Scuba Diving Taught Me About Living Life To The Fullest

My wife recently bought me scuba diving lessons for my birthday.  I am studying the material to obtain my open water recreational diver certification.  As I’ve been going through the book and videos, it occurred to me that there are a lot of parallels between the principals of scuba diving and how to live a rich and fulfilling life.  I thought I’d take this opportunity to share my observations.

1.  Breathe continuously.

This is probably one of the most important things to do as a scuba diver.  Breath is life.  Obviously, while diving and otherwise, we need to breathe to live, but continuous breathing helps to protect a diver’s lungs as the volume of air changes with depth underwater due to changes in pressure. 

Air compresses and expands as you descend and ascend in the water.  If you hold your breath while ascending, you could over expand your lungs causing a serious injury.  Scuba divers avoid this by simply breathing continuously.

In life, we also pass through different situations where the pressure varies greatly.  Sometimes, we experience significant stress at work and at home.  We go through things that we wished we didn’t have to endure. 

The only thing you can do is keep breathing.  You just have to believe that "this too shall pass".  Breathing is symbolic of staying calm and centered.  It is the most basic of our needs.  As long as we are breathing, then we live to fight another day.

2.  Use the buddy system.

In diving, you always want to have a buddy along.  You need a buddy to assist you through all phases of a dive.  Before you dive, you perform a buddy check to verify each other’s scuba gear is set up and functioning properly.

Circumstances can arise while in the water that you cannot resolve on your own.    Your buddy is there to help.  He even serves as your backup air supply should you run out of air or experience a severe malfunction.  Having a buddy along underwater is indispensable and it is just more fun to dive with a companion.

Again, as in diving, so it is in life.  We need friends, family and spouses by our side to help us deal with the difficulties of life and to celebrate the good times with us.  Life is just a much richer experience when we are regularly surrounded with those we love and that love us.

Loved ones keep an eye on us.  They let us know when something in our life is going wrong.  They are there to pick us up and dust us off when we fall.  They tell us we are special and the good ones throw us parties on special occasions!  We all need a buddy or two or three or ten!

3.  Avoid entanglements.

Becoming entangled underwater is a serious problem for a number of reasons.  First, you only have a certain amount of air.  Second, you risk decompression sickness or "the bends" if you stay underwater too long.  Third, it can cause you to panic and do something really stupid.

Divers are cautious to avoid entanglements.  It is prudent to stay clear of heavy  vegetation.  You also need to stay out of underwater caves and sunken vessels without knowledge of these spaces.

Entanglements are equally dangerous in day-to-day living.  When we stray off the high road, we can wind up with a mess on our hands.  From experience, I have found that many of the moral and ethical rules to live by are designed to keep us out of such traps.

Several things that are widely accepted as "normal" behavior today lead to complications in life.  Things like premarital sex, debt, and divorce were once considered taboo, but now are commonplace.  Of course, these things often lead to entanglements that suck the joy out of living.  We should avoid entanglements to minimize the craziness in our life and maximize our fulfillment.

4.  Know your limits.

In order to stay out of trouble while diving, it is imperative that you know your limits and avoid exceeding them.  You have limited air and a limited amount of time that you can stay underwater without risking decompression sickness.  You have to plan and execute your dive accordingly.

In addition, every diver has limited experience.  No one has been diving at every possible dive site.  Getting cocky and believing that you know it all is dangerous.  This is usually where problems occur. 

In life, we also have to know our limits.  Just about anything done in excess becomes bad.  Take work as an example.  We need to recognize when we are working too hard or too much.  It is important to maintain balance in our life.  Otherwise, we can burn ourselves out and risk hurting our relationships.

We need a plan and some goals to get the most out of life.  We have to keep our behavior in check and avoid becoming overconfident.  We should always have a safety buffer built into life to protect us when things take an unexpected turn.  Knowing your limits and staying within them will enable you to live a rich life!

5.  Have fun!

Scuba diving can be a lot of fun.  The underwater world is full of sights and adventures that you cannot find anywhere else.  The whole point in diving is to have fun and enjoy exploring the wonder found in our oceans and other bodies of water.

I’m just starting out, but I hear that there is also a strong sense of camaraderie among divers.  This just adds to the enjoyment.  It is always more fun when you can share common experiences with others that also have a passion for diving.

Over the years, I’ve learned that although it is great to work hard to try to achieve goals, it is also important to have fun.  You have to take time out in life to enjoy all that you have accomplished.  We get so caught up in trying to get more, we sometimes fail to enjoy what we have.

I do not want to get to the end of my life and realize that I failed to have fun.  So, while we want to be smart about living life, we also want to go out and be crazy once in awhile.  Smile and laugh often.  Surround yourself with others that are happy and fun to be with.  Fun is contagious.  Go catch some!

Get the most out of life and diving!

The "rules" often are designed to help us enjoy ourselves and avoid problems.  This is true in diving as well as in life.  It doesn’t have to be complicated.  We tend to make things that way ourselves.  If we observe some basic guidelines, we can save ourselves a lot of trouble.  Now go out there, have fun, and be safe!

What "rules" do you live by to have fun and excel?

Photos by Franie Frou Frou and SteelCityHobbies and Larsz

You Might Also Like: