Swimming with Sharks - Essay Example

Lessons from life Swimming with the sharks 2. going under the knives 3. the adrenaline rush Swimming with sharks Diving in some of the world’s most extraordinary places like the Blue Hole in Egypt and Silky point in Jeddah and swimming with sharks has been an amazing experience and has instilled within me a deep love for the ocean and its inhabitants. I have dived with sharks for about 27 times and an overall 340 times at different places worldwide and every experience has been exciting and worth remembering. However the attitude of people to sharks has been quite shocking as these animals have in many cases been portrayed as man-eaters in movies and by the media at large, while they are actually people-friendly. Sharks have long been credited to have survived more than any other species on this planet as they survived the ice age and maintain their balance, but the same animals are today on the verge of their extinction due to massive hunting by humans. Going under the knife About 6 years back, when I was 13 years old, I weighed nearly 100 kg. My father was concerned about my weight and put me in a weight loss camp where I was introduced to sports and eventually developed a love for the same and it helped me to lose 30 kg. From then on I have accustomed myself to play sports daily and the constant fear that I would gain weight goaded me to play more. I began playing street soccer which I found to be a really amazing game. I enjoyed the sport so much that I kept thinking about the team and sometimes even dreamt about the goals I had scored during my sleep. My team friends became closer than my family and we all endured the pain and exhaustion of the sport together. Continuous and fervent practice helped us become the second best team in the street soccer league and three of my friends had already begun to play for teams. One day we were playing with this Egyptian team who had come from Cairo, when I started to show off my tricks and moves specifically in the defense. My teammate Majdi was getting irritated with me as after scoring 2 goals I was no longer concentrating in scoring goals. He was always rough with me and so I just wanted him to feel bad. When he pulled my shirt I ran faster so that the referee would see and when he wanted to tackle me hard I jumped or moved from the ball, thus allowing others to see him and feel disgusted about him. In one instance I got the ball which Saud, my cousin, crossed over from the far right and taking the ball I did this trick while passing Majdi and Hassam, who was the other defense. I then passed the goal keeper and was walking slow as I wanted to go down and push the ball with my head when Majdi came and shot the back of my knee as hard as he could. I feel down immediately and was taken to a nearby hospital where an MRI scan was taken. The results showed how badly my knee was damaged and the doctor told me that I would not be able to do the same things as before and I began to cry after hearing those words as it made me lose hope of playing my favorite game and doing all the things I liked. I later went to Boston, Massachusetts, where I stayed for two months. The first month covered my doctor visits and treatment and the second month was the recovery period. Every day I was subjected to 6 hours of physical therapy which included exercises to strengthen my knee. I then went back to the hotel where we stayed with the help of crouches, watched some TV, ate my supper and went to bed. I had never realized the love and care that my family had for me until the day I was disabled. Both my parents provided me with utmost care and my mother would not sleep just to ensure that I slept peacefully. This woman had carried me for 8 months in her womb, brought me to this world and raised me for 18 years teaching me all the values and lessons of life. My dad, who has also been very supportive throughout my growing years, had taken two months off from his work only to ensure that I come out well from this injury. I had often wondered as to why people do not realize these things unless something terrible happens after which they understand the true feelings of people around them. The other day, when I had gone to visit a friend of mine called Nicole, a Harvard Medical student hailing from Boston, I listened to the curses she blew at her mother. I had never seen such rudeness before and asked her whether she was insane. She simply replied that her mother was useless. I then tried to explain to her that it was her mother who had taken care of her when nobody else was there with her including her father and asked her whether she was giving a fair treatment to someone who has borne her and had given her the life that she was living. My friend then burst into tears and hugged me. I then asked her to go to her mother and apologize for what she had said and kiss her on her forehead, which is a sign of respect to elders in Saudi, from where I hail. I always kiss my parents head and hand when I meet them and before I go to sleep. In a democratic country like America, where people enjoy their freedom, it is sad to know that they also misuse the same. Freedom of speech does not provide any one with the tight to curse or abuse their parents as this is not mentioned anywhere in the constitution. I sometimes ponder whether it is so hard to appreciate and bring a smile on your parents face and do what they want you to do. The adrenaline rush Coming back to my injury, I realized that nothing can be changed even if I broke Majdi’s teeth as the injury caused cannot be reversed. I then channeled my thoughts towards understanding the condition of my knee and learning what it can do. I wanted to help the disabled as I learnt from my experience that they need more support, but the reality was that I myself needed two people to help me with my routine. I felt bad that I was needed assistance all the time and that I lived in a country which did not have parking’s or lifts for the disabled. I am grateful that I have not been confined to a wheelchair. I had suffered a lot of pain and for about 6 months I had to use an ice pack to numb the pain. It was a very unfortunate happening given the fact that I had passionately taken up sports. True to the Arabic saying “anything over the limit turns against you”, I realized that even something that u really love to do will have its own limitations which must never be crossed. Too much of exercise will wear down your knees and body, just like how too much of alcohol spoils your liver and speed driving could land you in jail or kill you. I had learnt this lesson in the hard way. It is always wise to not do anything that could have an adverse effect on your health. I had a problem dealing with my limitations as I always had a tendency to do more that what is actually needed. Apart from the street soccer, I used to dive without any cages along with sharks which many people told me was an insane thing to do and sky diving and bungee jumping. I was always looking for that euphoric feeling that accompanies the adrenaline rush in the body as it relaxed my mind despite the risks attached. Till this day I have never thought twice before I did or said anything and always spoke my mind and did what came to my mind. But now I have realized that it is not a very good thing to do as u might end up losing people whom you love or your own life. I remember one of my dives back in 2006, which was my second dive and I was on a platform 200 feet underwater. I was holding to one of the metal poles on the platform and asked my instructor for the wait while waving towards the sharks. I took a tuna tail which most shark’s love and waived the bait towards the shark in front of me. With the euphoria of giving the shark its bait, I failed to notice a shark which was coming from behind. While the one in the front took the bait from me, the shark that was coming from behind opened its mouth in front of me but however bit the pole. I owe my life to Chris Clarke, a diver who had also saved the life of my uncle and father many number of times. I somehow got the tooth of the shark and gave it to my girlfriend by placing it in a necklace and told her that the same tooth could have taken my life and joked that now since it is around your neck my life was in her hands. To which she shot back saying that the shark itself could have taken my life and for a second I dint know whether she was joking or serious. Though it was an experience of a lifetime, I have never lost the love for sharks and after knowing the fact that they have become endangered species I have convinced my uncle and father to open a worldwide foundation called “Save our Seas”, which would work towards saving the blue planet that encompasses the oceans and the seas. It is a non-profitable organization with offices in many parts of the world and the head office is located in Geneva, Switzerland. The foundation also imparts education that focuses on enlightening people that sharks do not harm humans and the only reason behind sharks attacking surfers is their black swim suites, which shark’s mistake to be seals as sharks do not have clear eyesight like humans. Just like how it is possible to be attacked by a drunken person who has blurred vision, similarly sharks also are unable to distinguish humans from other life forms. The statistics from the international shark attack file show that most of the shark attacks over the years have been non-fatal (http://www.flmnh.ufl.edu/fish/sharks/statistics/statsus.htm). However, in the state of Florida 18,251 people are held for drunken driving and about 1.028 are run over by cars yearly. From my point of view it is scarier to walk on the streets than to swim along with sharks. Bad media publicity is the main factor behind the death of millions of these unique species which had previously survived the age of the dinosaurs and the ice age. It is sad that humans do not have the respect and consideration for the preservation of such species that have lived in the earth even before their existence. While we strive to protect our homes as we believe that god resides in it, we fail to protect his creations. We fund more than a 10 million a year for foundations, towards good causes, yet we are damaging it by a billion. The corals require twenty thousand years to grow two centimeters in length, but it only takes a divers fin a second to destroy them. It is our primary duty to preserve these corals because they are home to millions of species such as algae, fishes, sharks, and crabs. It provides them with food and shelter for those species and also plays vital roles in maintained the marine ecosystem. Read More