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One thing that my Scuba instructor pounded into my head was "If you don't feel right about the dive-don't go". If we override this feeling in our gut, you may not be at the top of your game to react quickly and calmly to anything that may happen.
I remember one time in Australia preparing for a dive, and being hurried along by a dive master, and feeling stressed by that. I had that little feeling in my gut not to go because I was feeling rushed and a bit stressed, but I kept thinking-it's the Great Barrier Reef-I have to go! Well that dive was horrible-I couldn't equalize my ears, and got stung by an anemone because I wasn't on top of my game!

Another dive I was on with my sister was a very relaxed and incredibly beautiful dive, and when we were down about 60 ft, my sister's O-ring blew on her tank. As air gushed out of her tank, I calmly swam over to her-because she had no idea it was happening-because you can't see behind yourself-and I signaled to her that we had to go up, I grabbed her BCD and gave her my extra mouthpiece, and we both started our ascent without any panic. It was a picture perfect reaction to an emergency, because we both were calm and very prepared about what to do. Mind you, about an hour later on the boat she had a meltdown about what could have happened, but that's okay-it happened afterwards.
So to sum it up-calmness allows you to think straight, react quickly, and get yourself to safety.

Learn more about this author, Cheryl Bourgeois.
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