Angela, it's a good question. Some days, I still struggle with skills. My friend Mo2vation calls those "combative dives" -- The ones where you and the water just can't come to terms. I think most people have them from time to time.
I'd say my first nine dives (OW and AOW) were not much fun, except in moments. I was frequently disoriented, struggling with skills, struggling with my equipment, and always terribly worried about hurting myself. I'm not, honestly, sure why I kept on, except that I have way too much bulldog in my temperament, and the moments of weightlessness were pretty cool.
Then I went to Maui, and spent several days doing EASY diving -- no current, enormous viz, a thin wetsuit, tons of sea life to marvel at. I suddenly discovered that the marginal skills I had were PLENTY for that environment. To this day, I love any opportunity I get to dive wet -- It's SO much easier.
But I came home convinced that diving was something I really, really wanted to do, in the warm clear water of Maui, and in the cold, murky water of Puget Sound. And I was fortunate enough to find (on Scubaboard, in fact) a generous, gifted mentor, who took my sorry self under his wing, and began the diving education I didn't have. He was the one who taught me about inhaling when starting a descent, and about crossing my ankles, and about clasping my hands to avoid swimming with them, and about doing a little tiny kick from the ankles, instead of a full leg flutter kick that leaves a silt trail. He helped me get my weighting right, and showed me that staying just a little bit off the bottom gave me much more immediate visual feedback on my buoyancy than trying to dive a long ways above it. Sooo many lessons, and I try to pass them on whenever I can, because NWGratefulDiver's generosity is why I still dive.
It's worth it. It's the coolest thing I've ever learned to do. I'm still not very good at it, compared with some of my friends, but I'm good enough to have a wonderful time again and again and again, and do it safely.
