Firsts

I spent the last week at a resort in a Cancun, Mexico. One morning, towards the end of the trip, I woke up, went and sat in the balcony hammock and wrote this in my notebook. I like it; I hope you do too:

I’m in Cancun, Mexico at the Moon Palace resort. First resort, first time in Cancun, first experience with this terribly convenient arrangement they call “all inclusive.” Life is pretty good at the moment, but as my wife and I, along with her family, wrap up the last couple days for our week-long stay here, I figured it appropriate to lay down a few firsts that I’ve experienced here. Some of them great, some of them pretty mundane (first time in the Houston airport, big deal eh?), some of them quite unpleasant. Why? Because I think many of us (and I know this for myself) get too comfortable with this experience of life. Our lives take place in the small world of work, home and family and we forget about the wider world and the experience it can give us. I believe getting out of one’s comfort zone is essential to overall well-being. But at the same time can be an incredibly difficult thing to do. We fear the unknown because we fear the unpredictability of it, we fear the “what-if’s?.”

One of my firsts on this trip was “zip lining” over the tops of the trees along the Yucatan coastline. Many what-if’s come to mind while strapped in a nylon harness connecting to a pulley system suspending you 150 feet in the air along ¼ mile stretches of steel cable traveling 20-25 mph. What if the cable breaks, what if these 1-inch wide nylon straps rip, what if a pulley seizes up leaving me dangling over the long drop to ground, stuck? Any of these what-if’s could happen and the fact they make you sign a waiver absolving them of responsibility if you get injured or killed doesn’t exactly instill more confidence or dissolve away the what-if’s. On top of that, I’m not much a fan of heights. But, it’s a chance I took, suspending my disbelief in the equipment, doing my best to overcome my fear of heights, and I had a fucking blast. On my own, I wouldn’t have signed up for this, but sometimes peer-pressure works for the best.

That is not to say that every first is going to turn out all that great. It’s a risk-reward system (isn’t life?) and, well, “Sometimes you eat the bear, sometimes the bear eats you.”

My first in the Caribbean Sea, my first scuba dive there, my first time diving from a boat. This lead to my first negative diving experience (couldn’t get my ears to equalize and most likely did some damage to my right ear), my first sight of a sting ray, the first time I ever ran out of air (I was at the surface thankfully), and the first time being sea sick - which lasted for another day getting off the boat. All-in-all my Saturday in Cancun was pretty damn lousy. I wouldn’t suggest diving with that company, but that is a matter for me and Yelp, I suppose. I was scheduled for another two dives this morning, but the risk in this case (further damage to my ear, along with perhaps another bout of seasickness) just isn’t worth it. There is no easy formula for deciding on doing things in life, experiencing firsts, out weighing risks, and evaluating what-if’s. Use your best judgement, don’t let fear rule, but well placed fear usually keeps us alive.

When I first began writing for this blog, I felt uncomfortable, as I thought (and still do) that giving life-advice to other people is pretentious, dangerous, and perhaps rude. But as i’ve continued to put the pen to paper for BD&LL, I've learned that these life lessons have mostly been for myself. You can take it or leave it, and I certainly take no responsibility for the shit you may get yourself into thinking you’re following my advice. This is what has worked and not worked for me. These are my own life-lessons that I continuously have to remind myself to follow. This is me, stumbling around life’s stage, trying to make sense of the void, wondering if it all has a purpose, and doing my best - and sometimes not my best - to learn from my failures and successes.

But as the noon sun beats down and the all-inclusive alcohol beckons, I find myself drawn poolside to catch a few last rays of equatorial sun. I leave you with a few more firsts experienced on this trip:

-First manicure & pedicure (Yeah, I know. So what.)

-First time visiting Mayan ruins (Chichen-Itza)

-First time I’ve felt like an asshole for saying “thank you” - this one needs an explanation: every time I say “thank you” to a staff member, waiter/waitress, etc., they respond with “my pleasure.” I feel like that should be followed up with “my lord” or “my lady” as if we’re royalty or something. I’m not a fan of elitism and thus, I feel like a jerk.

-First room service (See above, but it’s still awesome.)

-First time I’ve wrote a blog sitting in a hammock - Yep, getting lame now. Signing off. Salud!