Just a short article from attending a writer's workshop with my Father.

Follow Your Instincts
Copyright Michael R. Ault 2005

When I was a young man I would watch with awe the various adventures on Sea Quest, Flipper, Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea and Jacques Yves Cousteau, feeling an almost instinctual pull to the sea. When I was old enough I joined the Navy and journeyed, not unlike my heroes of Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea, in nuclear submarines beneath the waves, but it was still not enough, not an intimate embrace between the sea and me. It was not quite what I was seeking to satisfy that primordial pull.

It wasn’t until many years later (24 to be exact) that this unsatisfied pull to the sea was satisfied. I learned to scuba dive at the age of 48 years. My first dive was at the Coral Gardens dive site on Grand Turk in the Turks and Caicos Islands. When I plunged beneath the warm sunlit surface into the crystalline blue waters I was met by a five foot long nurse shark, who, having officially welcomed me, swam away without a backward glance. In this dive I was also to meet Alexander, a 20-30 pound Nassau Grouper, who liked to have his tummy rubbed.

Needless to say, I was hooked on diving, finally, the full embrace of the sea. Since then I have dove over 40 times and each was more than worth any effort it took. Each dive is a return to a primal state where we floated free and joyful.

I wish I had learned at an earlier age, however the proper combination of time, opportunity and money didn’t happen until recently. It made me realize how many people don’t get the opportunity to “follow your instincts” and do the things they really wish to. Whether from lack of time, money, opportunity, or the saddest reason of all, fear, many don’t, or can’t follow their instincts. Fear of what others will say, fear of the unknown, fear of failure, all cause us not to follow up on our instincts.

Next time, don’t walk away from following your instinct. Instead leap into the challenge! You may find that following your instincts leads to finding yourself.