Going Into The Unknown (Bat Cave In Tulum)

How are you with going into the unknown parts of your life? 

What if that unknown was a literal bat cave? 

At a recent retreat the center I stayed at had a cenote, which is a freshwater underground pool connected by caves and below ground rivers. This cave had a part that was completely open to the air, but then towards the back was an area that you had to go below the water and come up into an enclosed area to explore further. 

When I was first invited back by a fellow participant as I popped my head up into the darkness it was completely overwhelming. He told me that my eyes would adjust and it was completely okay, but I was not okay.  I couldn't even understand the point of going further, so I ducked out  and went to the sunny pool instead. 

The next day, I returned to the cenote alone and decided to poke my head into the hidden cavern. I remembered some of the tips from the previous time, and I went at my own pace. Every few inches I would pause, look back to see the light, then feel around with my hands and feet to know where I was. Then I would slowly, slowly, move forward. I made it about 5 feet into the cave, and the fear was coming again, so I turned around, saw that where I had been was illuminated and easy to navigate back to where I came from, and left.

 A couple days later, I was at the cenote with a group of people and I saw one participant heading to the back about to duck his head under to go to the back. I followed and he hadn't been every. I told him that I'd gone in before and would go with. He went first, and I told him all the tricks I knew from my 5 feet of exploring.

 Having confidently navigated those 5 feet with my support behind him, he had the momentum to keep going, and I kept following. After 10 more feet we got to a part where the bottom turned muddy, and our feet release sulfurous bubbles. We heard bats and when looking back could see their form hanging from the ceiling. We were both scared, yet he continued another 10 feet and followed till he felt what seemed like an end or small beginning to another passage. We decided to stop.

 Together we had made it further than either would have wanted to go it alone. On the return the path was illuminated and much much easier to traverse. Such is much of our life when we go into the unknown. We can go it alone, but we don't have to. We can also pause whenever we want and return to where we came. The journey expands what we know and allows our future exploration into the unknown to be that much easier, especially if we go with someone. 

What's an area of your life where you want to go into the unknown? Let me know. Are you going to go it alone? Or d

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