I recently took a friend out for his first spearfishing experience.
The wind was light early, but the swell had picked up a little more than expected.
It was a close call. A little rough, but he wanted to test out all the gear.
Eventually, we decided to go ahead, with an agreement to get out early if it was no good.
Within 20 minutes of heading out, we found ourselves in a washing machine, with terrible visibility. The swell continued to build, and I signalled it was time to head in, as I knew he wasn’t really going to enjoy the experience.
The next 15 minutes were a workout. We swam against the outflowing current to get back to shore.
For a first time experience, this was as bad as it gets really.
When we try something new, or put something out there, we often have to ask the question:
What if this flops?
What if it doesn’t work?
Is it still worth the experience anyway?
When we zoom out and consider the learning experience as a whole, usually it is. And if things aren’t as rosy as they could be, at least we get to see the worst of it early on.
