Sunday, November 7, 2010

What's YOUR worst fear?

Raise your hand if you've ever been in a situation where your worst fear was realized?

[my hand is raised]

I've been thinking a lot about when it happened to me because with Bryan's dad in town, we seem to be re-telling the story to family friends, and the funny part is every time I tell it my heart starts pounding again. Please keep in mind this is not my very worst fear, but something that gives me anxiety, for sure. Ok, maybe it is.

It was just last summer. Bryan and I were on our honeymoon in Cabo San Lucas. Our week had been AMAZING. We were staying at a time share of Kim and Tom's [Bryan's mom and step-dad] and were enjoying every minute of it. The food, the personal soaking tub on our deck, the swim up bar - ah yes, this must be "The Life". We flew in on the Sunday after our wedding, and the "accident" happened on Friday. Thank goodness because I feel like it would have completely ruined our trip.

[The view from our hotel room]
[Our feeties in the sand]
[Being silly :)]
[Glass bottom boat tour to Lover's Beach]




Bryan and I both picked an excursion to do that week. He picked Snuba, a combination of snorkeling and scuba, and I picked parasailing. I was so excited, this was WAY out of my comfort zone and I felt butterflies in my tummy the entire way there. And let me preface this story by letting you know, I am TERRIBLY afraid of 
1. The ocean and 
2. Sharks. 
I'm pretty sure I had a minor nervous break down while trying to snorkel in 2005 while in Mazatlan. 

So, back to the story
[insert photo of us on our way to Cabo, fully dressed, hair and make up done, and please also note Bryan's $120 sunglasses]

We hopped in the shuttle, picked up one more couple from another hotel, and we were on our way to the marina. My tummy was still fluttering when we arrived and got on the boat. The other couple went first. Basically you sit on the back of the boat and the HUGE parachute pulls you off the boat as it starts going faster. When you are done the skipper reels you back in. I thought to myself, "I can do this". I even asked the guy, "So, there's no chance of us going in the water right?" and he assured me there wasn't. Then it was our turn,
Getting hooked up to the parachute, you had to kind of sit in the harness
Just lifted off, my face is priceless
All was perfect at this point

When we were in the air it was absolutely beautiful, you could see everything, and it was so peacefully quiet, I don't even know how else to describe it. Bryan and I held hands, this was a special moment for us, new husband and wife doing something like this together. I thought I should remember that moment forever.

That moment was gone and we realized he was reeling us back in. All of the sudden [Bryan tells me because I think my mind blacked all of this out in my state of panic] we were drifting down dangerously close to the water until
-CRASH-
We were in it and being dragged merceylously through the ocean, drinking in what seemed like gallons of salt water. And even though we were probably only dragged for 10-15 seconds it felt like an hour. When we finally stopped, we were submerged in the water in the middle of the Sea of Cortez. Nervous breakdown mode set in and I was screaming, crying, flailing...it probably wasn't a pretty site. Thank God for Bryan, he grabbed me by the life vest, looked me in the eye and said, "Amanda! We're ok, everything's ok, I got you" This was sweet looking back on it, but at the moment didn't help at all.

I thought for sure, this was the part in the movie where the newlywed couple on their honeymoon, gets in a parasailing accident and eaten by sharks. One of the worst feelings to me is having my legs dangling in a dark abyss, and that's exactly what it felt like. We were in the MIDDLE of the ocean, the water was a dark blue now, not light blue like it is towards the shore. 

All of the sudden Bryan got yanked under the water. At this point I was still screaming and crying, and now panicked that my husband got chosen by the shark first. He bobs back up above the surface and says the parachute got tangled around his leg and pulled him under. In the mean time, another boat has arrived on the scene to help us. The other couple [that had gone first and their experience was just peachy -  jerks] said that the power had just cut out on the boat and that's why the reel stopped, and even though the power cut out the boat continued to cruise through the water which is why we were dragged.

We finally got pulled into the other boat that was flagged down, and I really wish a picture would have been taken at this point, because I can only imagine the hot mess we were, well I was looking [my husband stayed oh so calm cool and collected for the most part]. I on the other hand, soaking wet, hair all mangled, and mascara streaming down my face, not a pretty site.

So it had happened, one of my worst fears realized. I was stranded, or so it felt like, in the middle of the ocean not able to control what was happening or see what was swimming beneath me. I felt helpless, embarrassed and livid all at the same time. And you want to know the very worst part? Bryan's wedding ring, that he hadn't even worn for a WEEK, and sunglasses came off when we were being dragged through the water. HUGE disappointment. Thank goodness it was his ring and not mine, but we were both still so sad. 
RIP Von Zipper sunglasses and Bryan's wedding ring. 

I keep teasing him that the next ring I get him needs to have "My love for you is ocean deep" on it, since his first ring is somewhere at the bottom of The Sea of Cortez :)

Sometimes I wonder why I'm SO afraid of the ocean and sharks, and it quite possibly has everything to do with the Jaws movies that I watched at WAY to young of age, nonetheless, the damage has been done. I will forever have a deep seeded fear of the both.

So, has your worst fear ever been realized? What happened? How did you deal with it? Does your heart still flutter when you think about it?

Thanks for letting me share my story, I hope NONE of you ever have to go through it, or if you do, I pray that you're not a big baby/scaredy cat like me!

PS -See the 365 Days in Pictures tab at the top of the page :)

6 comments:

  1. My worst fear is of high heights but I have no idea when I realized it. I do know that several times I have been up high and was scared about having to go down. Thankfully, my dad was with me a couple of those times and was there to hold my hand and say that it was going to be OK. Still, I try to avoid being in those situations.

    ReplyDelete
  2. YES! I JUST wrote about mine!!! http://legosinmypocket.blogspot.com/2010/11/attack-of-night-creepies.html
    ugh hunnie i am Sooooo sorry about what happened.. thats so sucky.. at least it was at the end of the week tho.. lol.. and hey, Ryan lost his ring too.. not in anything as deep as the sea of cortez.. lol.. but the dark and murky waters of under-our-dock at our cabin in Idaho, on lake pend Oreille. Lol but you'll always have a great story to tell.. :) and those make the BEST memories...

    ReplyDelete
  3. Sounds terrifying! So glad it turned out ok. I have run smack into my "worst" fear a couple times and found out I could survive it. But for some reason tackling one just means a new, different one creeps in.

    And my hubby lost his 1st ring within a month while chasing a cow in the dark...here we are 9 years later next month and he's on #4. We've learned not to invest in the band, just in the marriage. :)

    ReplyDelete
  4. Oofta! My heart was racing just reading this! Holy cow!

    ReplyDelete
  5. I went pairasailing in cabo too. I loved it. Don't be such a wimpy. lol I'm kidding. Loved the story.

    ReplyDelete
  6. Sarah - I think it's a good thing to avoid situations that terrify us to the max, you don't get a gold star for dealing with them! Ya know what I mean?

    Jaimie- this is true, every time I tell this story, even though I get the heebey jeebies, it makes me laugh just a little! Bryan always says, "What are the odds?!" LOL :)

    Jamie - I absolutely LOVED your comment, "Don't invest in the band, just the marriage" that will stick in my mind forever. Thank you :)

    Jessie - Oofta! You crack me up! :) I probably was saying Oofta when I thought the sharks were beneath me! :)

    Kristina - I am a wimpy. This is the Diary of a Wimpy Kid named Amanda! LOL

    ReplyDelete