Second Time Around

I repeated the 70 meter freedive today and what success. The thing I like most about repeating dives is that the more I repeat the thoughts and the actions, the stronger, easier and more enjoyable they become.

Repeating a dive is an opportunity to do the dive better, to do it right and to do it great.

Although same depth, today’s 70 meter dive was a completely different experience than yesterday’s. The fear was disappeared. I felt prepared, in control of my actions, and had the confidence to know that I can handle anything that came my way on this dive.

Worries popped-up of course, “what if I can’t equalize at the bottom and mess-up my ear?”, “what if I get contractions the whole way down?”, “what if my arms become so lactic I can’t pull-up anymore?”.

But I was able to bracket them and put them aside in my mind as soon as they came into it. Worrying about bad things happening, I knew would just move me in the direction of those things.

So I decided just TO DO MY BEST and TO ENJOY the dive which helped free myself a bit from all the worrying.

The challenge of repeating the 70 meter dive, I knew would give the achievement of facing that fear its full value. The great thing about it was that I already knew what the challenges of this dive would be, so I knew how to work my way through them. And so I did and the dive was beautiful.

Every dive, well everything in life I suppose brings some element of risk to it. Of course, I don’t do crazy things and take crazy risks, not usually anyway haha, but I also won’t live in fear either. I think avoiding risk by doing nothing is the biggest risk of all.

The take-away I suppose – Have no fear and give yourself second chances, breathing new life and love into all you do, discovering them again and again and discovering how far you can go. And do what you know needs to be done.

We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence, then, is not an act, but a habit. -Aristotle

Photo by Daan Verhoeven