Pam's Daily Wave...What a Difference a Day Makes

Pam Buchholz
Dec 3, 2021
3 min read

Good Morning and Welcome to Friday 😊

🎼“What a difference a day makes….24 little hours”🎵

(sang by Dinah Washington 1924-1963, often called “Queen of the Blues)

Apologies for not posting yesterday, but JB and I had to head “up the island” to KittyHawk and Manteo, early, and although I had my morning sunrise on the beach…I didn’t have time to write and post my blog.

So, yesterday my mood matched the ocean…a little dark and stormy, and it took a tad longer than usual to clear my head. It was just one of those days when you feel like "not all is well with your world" ...it happens to us all - But as the waves crashed, and the wind howled, my mind wandered back...

Many years ago, I had the opportunity to scuba dive off the coast of Jamaica…. As a true water person, the feeling of being underwater, and swimming around with so many beautiful fishes and ocean life – was a dream come true (checked off another dream come true 😊)

When we set out on the dive boat that that morning though, the water was really rough and churned up, and the boat was being tossed about in the waves. This was my first “real dive” out in the ocean, as opposed to dives in the training pool and in calm shallow water, and I have to admit, I was a tad intimidated…. strike that…… I was absolutely terrified, at the thought of jumping into the tumultuous waves. I remember I kept thinking, they’ll cancel this, there sure to cancel…. but alas, no, we were going in!!!!

Now, not being one to back out of a challenge…. or heaven forbid, admit my fear – I literally took the plunge…. into the stormy waters

Once I was several feet below the surface, the water began to calm, and as I dived further down, it became a completely different world - serene, tranquil and so beautiful. That day turned out to be one of my most special days ever 💗

As I followed the dive master, we passed over the most incredible and intricate coral beds, where brightly colored fish and sea anemones lived, to say it took my breath away, was an understatement (not something you want to do when you’re using a breathing regulator, where regular breathing is super important 🙄).

This undersea world was truly wonderous and so exceptionally beautiful. We swam along what I thought was the ocean floor, but it was actually a giant shelf…. and, as I swam alongside the dive master, the ocean floor suddenly seemed to disappear, as the shelf ended abruptly like a huge cliff….and we kept going…

I’m really not that keen on heights, and the sea floor had literally just disappeared below us as it was so deep, but for whatever reason, I didn’t panic, and wasn’t even concerned…. I felt so comfortable in, and supported by the water.... and I’ll truly never forget that feeling of complete awe, and of being at one with the water, it really was indescribable 💗

But the thing that stuck with me most from that incredible day…. was how chaotic and tumultuous the ocean had appeared on the surface that day, whilst underneath was so completely calm and serene.

I try to think that my life can be that way……even when things around me appear to be chaotic, out of control and my mind feels like a churning maelstrom…. underneath, I can still be calm. And this calmness gives me the strength to deal with whatever is happening in my world.

24hrs later…. This morning, the storm has passed (it stayed out at sea) and, like my problems, was not as bad as it had looked yesterday. By remembering that I don’t have to be consumed by the events that are happening to me, or around me – that underneath the surface, I am still that same calm, strong woman that I know I am….and I can deal much easier with any problem that presents itself to me.