The importance of a cave diver's guideline

If you go cave diving, you use something called a guideline (or distance line, it has a few different names) to navigate underwater and to find your way back to the surface.

If you can imagine the scenario for a second, these are typically scientists or researchers, who are diving into dark, complex cave systems, anywhere from hundreds to thousands of feet under the surface (like the picture on this post).

Most of the time they have just enough visibility to see directly in front of them if they’re lucky. So, holding on tightly to that guideline becomes crucial.

One of the most common causes of death for cave divers is when they lose contact with their guidelines and become lost underwater.

Without it they are literally blind and lost, with almost no hope of finding their way back to the surface.

Even in the darkest, deepest, most unexplored areas, holding that small piece of nylon gives them some connection back to the world above. It gives them some hope of finding their way.

I love that visual and concept so much, because I think it is such a beautiful parallel to how we interact with the world.

If you are facing a really tough choice, maybe in your personal or professional life, it can feel like being lost in a dark cave.

It is not clear which way to go, it is hard to see everything, a wrong decision can feel life threatening, and you can quickly feel lost and alone.

It is SO EASY in that moment to lose perspective, to forget what your values are, and to lose sight of what you’re trying to accomplish.

Our thoughts become as confusing as the tunnels and caverns under the water, and before we know it we are making decisions or heading in directions that no longer align with who we want to be.

That is why in those moments, it is so important to “keep hold of your guideline.”

Imagine a kid, stressed out about all the work they have to do and they’re trying to decide if they should cheat on their homework. A bunch of the other kids are doing it and they have so much to get done before basketball practice.

Or imagine a CEO, under pressure from the board about growing profits and cutting costs. They’re trying to decide if they should cut employee benefits again, because it seems like such an easy way to save money and they just lost that big European account, which is going to kill their profit numbers.

Or imagine, a person who has become some consumed by politics that they find themselves arguing with friends and family over why their candidate is going to “save the country.” At their core they believe in values like honesty, compassion, integrity, and work ethic, but somehow, in the deep cave of U.S. politics, they’ve lost their guideline.

They’ve lost perspective on what really matters.

They’re more worried about defending their team than they are caring about other human beings. They’re more focused on hating the other party than they are about finding common ground. Ironically, they’re so consumed with saving the country from the other side, that they don’t realize their tribalism is actually the thing destroying the country.

It is exactly in these moments that it is so critical to not lose your guideline. That small piece of thread is the one thing that you can follow to keep you connected to your true values and beliefs.

When you lose that thread, our minds can start to deceive us just like the caves.

Fear, insecurity, biases, hatred, all become harder to see in ourselves. We start to believe things we may never have believed, or say things we never would have said, or treat people a way we never would have treated them. ?

Learning how to think critically, to challenge ourselves, and to be truly self-aware is our guideline in life. It helps make sure, no matter what the circumstance, we don’t lose our way.

In today’s world, whether you’re a kid, CEO, or concerned citizen it is as important as ever that we learn how to follow that guideline.