2005-02-20
How The Diving Guy Saved My Life
CaribbeanToGo.com Staff Writer
Several years ago on a trip to the US Virgin Islands, I met Steve the diving guy. Steve was a diving instructor on the island of St. Thomas who had moved there from the US mainland many moons ago. Actually, Steve is very likely NOT his name (I have long since forgotten it), but nevertheless, he had a most remarkable and profound impact on me. You see, Steve saved my life. Well...sort of.
On that warm Wednesday afternoon, Steve, myself, and another paying customer loaded our diving gear into Steve's beat up old Chevy and drove the short distance to the beach. This was to be my very first diving experience, and I could hardly wait. On the way there, we made small talk about the weather and the great time that we were enjoying on the island. Steve asked the two of us where we lived and what we did for a living. We both eagerly and proudly told him about our careers, how well we were both doing and about our hopes for the future. Steve listened to us attentively, nodding his head approvingly several times. By all accounts, he was more than suitably impressed by us both. When we were finished, I asked him how long he had been diving. It was then that it happened.
In a few short minutes, Steve proceeded to tell us how he had left his high paying, stressful corporate position several years before, sold his possessions and moved to St. Thomas. He passionately explained to us his love for diving, and how much he loved the Virgin Islands. He told us how fortunate he was to be able to do the thing that he loved most in life, and by the way, to also get paid for it. According to Steve, he owned one pair of long pants, which he believed he last wore a few years earlier, when he went to the bank to apply for a loan for his boat. Steve mentioned that he was really impressed by us, and wished us well. However, with all due, respect, he thought that maybe he was better off than we were. He said all of this, not with an ounce of envy or animosity, but in an almost fatherly kind of way.
OK, so maybe Steve did not actually save my life. Maybe there was no heroic rescue at sea from a shark attack or malfunctioning equipment. But Steve did make me rethink a few things though. He made me think about enjoying life, family and friends. He made me think that maybe there was more to life than money, and the pursuit of it. My experience that day, coupled with the weather, my surroundings (and a Red Stripe beer or two) helped to put those things in proper perspective, which I have held onto since then.
Maybe one of these days, I’ll look up Steve and thank him. He’s probably still hanging out by the Wyndham Sugar Bay in St. Thomas. I hope he has a new van. Most of all, I hope that he still dives two or three times a day. Either way, I know he is happy in his beloved Virgin Islands.
Oh, by the way, the diving was great.
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