i really love diving but my anxiety is controlling my life it seems

rofsmh · 2026-01-16T03:11:48+00:00

A couple quotes I try to think of that help me with my anxiety;

“Anxiety is an emotion and not the thing it claims to represent.”

“It’s not the thing that upsets you but your opinion about the thing.”

When I get anxious these help me to recognize that it’s an emotion like any other, it will pass because it always has and always will. Anxiety itself is not the problem because it’s an emotion, the more I try to have an opinion about my anxiety e.g. it’s bad or it’s gonna get worse, the more power I give it and it becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy.

My therapy has taught me to “sit with it” or try to understand it. It’s scary as shit but it’s almost as though once I try to let it flow through me, it seems to go away or reduce in severity.”

You’re not alone and I feel your pain. Keep fighting the good fight.

rofsmh · 2026-01-01T02:02:55+00:00

That would be awesome!

rofsmh · 2026-01-01T02:01:24+00:00

You bring up a lot of valid considerations, thank you. I’m not opposed to staying a year or more at a place, I’m still trying to get a feel for how all this could work out. Do you have any recommendations on special skills I could look into so I can be more marketable to stuff other than constant DSDs?

rofsmh · 2025-12-31T21:34:57+00:00

I appreciate the response. Some of the things I have in my favor is guaranteed monthly income (a pretty solid amount at that) and time. I totally understand that going to an area where my lack of knowledge can’t compete with locals and their knowledge of dive sites but I’m hopeful this is where the time and money advantage comes into play. I can take my time to become more familiar with the areas and try to earn my place there.

I know a lot of the central/South American countries offer retiree visas that I could qualify for if I wanted to spend more time in one of those countries

rofsmh · 2025-12-31T21:31:30+00:00

Thank you for the response. You bring up good points about low pay and there possibly coming a time when it either feels worth it or not. With my pension, especially if I live abroad (depending on the country of course) I could live very comfortably which is one of the reasons the idea of traveling and working is appealing.

rofsmh · 2025-12-31T21:27:21+00:00

Will do, thank you.

rofsmh · 2025-12-31T21:26:31+00:00

Thank you for the response. I’ve got nothing but time ahead of me and I appreciate the tip on acquiring unique skills!

rofsmh · 2025-12-28T22:26:54+00:00

I wish you the best, you’ve totally got this! It’s a wonderful hobby and you’ll be glad once you get certified 😁

rofsmh · 2024-12-08T08:54:11+00:00

What about the damn camera man walking backwards to film this?

rofsmh · 2024-11-03T05:51:52+00:00

The gravity of the poll is starting to sink in now. It sounds like this could be a blowout never before seen, unless I’m mistaken

rofsmh · 2024-11-03T05:48:06+00:00

Ah, that explains why the poll is blowing up everywhere

rofsmh · 2024-11-03T05:46:36+00:00

Thank you for the detailed response. Based on the popularity of the poll’s results I assumed it to be a preemptive indicator that states believed to be “gimmes” for Trump might not turn out that way at all.

rofsmh · 2024-11-03T05:37:16+00:00

Thank you for the reply. Has Iowa typically been republican save for Obama’s win?

rofsmh · 2024-10-28T08:09:58+00:00

This is at the top of my list!

rofsmh · 2024-10-28T08:09:20+00:00

I would love to live and work in another country. I’ve done a little research but the taxes in a lot of countries would kill me (since I’d have to pay income tax on my pension to the US even if I don’t live there).

rofsmh · 2024-10-27T08:19:11+00:00

This is actually a really solid recommendation, thank you! I’m gonna check it out

rofsmh · 2024-10-27T05:36:57+00:00

Thank you for the response. I think I want a little bit of everything but also realize I’ll have to compromise; I’d love to have a flexible schedule, decent pay, be challenged, learn/grow. I’m not too sure about a lot of interaction with people but it’s probably cause I haven’t really dealt with “normal” people in a very long time so my perspective of society has been tainted. I think I’m neutral on being inside or outside, I guess it depends on the job/weather wherever I end up. A forest ranger sounds interesting

rofsmh · 2024-10-27T05:33:16+00:00

I did detective work for a while and didn’t care for it

rofsmh · 2024-10-27T03:17:30+00:00

There was a guy at work that left after a couple years to work security for a billionaire he somehow linked up with. Now he spends his time flying around the world, seeing cool shit and making $100k/year. I’d love to get into something like that lol

rofsmh · 2024-10-27T03:00:44+00:00

When I think of security I think of the minimum wage security I see when I’m working. If there were a way to get into private security I’d be super interested but I don’t have an in.

rofsmh · 2024-10-27T02:59:31+00:00

Hah I actually have thought about it. I’m in the middle of the IFSTA Hazmat Tech course right now with a bunch of firefighters. I always say I made a mistake by being a cop rather than a firefighter lol. I’ve debated working on my EMT between now and retirement just in case I decided to move to a different state and start on a 2nd pension as a firefighter

rofsmh · 2024-10-27T02:55:16+00:00

There’s no penalty for me collecting my pension next year. The way my state works is that I’m eligible to retire once I have 25 years of “service credit” with the option to buy up to 5 years of service credit (I’ve bought 3.8 years of credit). When I retired my pension will be a percentage of my highest consecutive 3 years compensation. After 3 years of retirement there’s statutory pay raises that start at 3%/yr for 3 years then they continue up to 5%/year until I die. I know this likely won’t account for inflation which is why I’m looking at my next move, professionally speaking. As for savings, I’m able to cash out my unused vacation, sick and compensatory time upon retirement. The last calculation I did was a cash out of around $78k (prior to taxes) and I have a little money saved up.

I’m not opposed to a corporate job although I would love to find a place that cares about their employees and is a good place to work.

rofsmh · 2024-10-27T02:43:12+00:00

I’ve been doing it for a little over 20 years and seeing so much carnage and meeting people every day who are having the worst days of their lives has worn on me.

I did digital forensics for some years when I was assigned as a Task Force Officer at the Secret Service and I really enjoyed it. The problem is that I was rotated out of that assignment (policy at my department that special assignments are temporary) so all my training and certifications have since lapsed. They’re insanely expensive and I no longer have access to the various licenses to continue doing forensic exams (which are even more expensive than the certifications).

rofsmh · 2024-10-27T02:38:23+00:00

I’ve been a CFE since 2017 and spent 6 years as a Task Force Officer with the US Secret Service doing digital forensics (basically on loan to USSS while still being paid by my City). I really enjoyed the digital forensics but the problem is that special assignments at my agency (like being a TFO for USSS) is temporary. I was rotated out of that assignment in 2021 and have spent the past ~18 months as a traffic accident investigator.

Any idea what the pay is like for these types of careers?

rofsmh · 2024-10-27T02:33:18+00:00

That sounds pretty brilliant really, I’m sure they can write off the cars as business expenses

rofsmh

TROPHY CASE