"Sixty to a hundred percent," I intone, bringing my voice down to a stage whisper.

Wow! I did that?

Never underestimate the power of even a minor breakthrough. The rapture that immediately follows is what life is all about. I can see my efforts beginning to pay off. Not only am I on track to give it my best at DBSA, I reflect over a throat-soothing orange-yogurt smoothie, freshly blended. I'm on track to do even better.

Then it's back to another round of rehearsing. Then dinner and time to call it a day. It's Shark Week on the Discovery Channel. A diver is hand-feeding a wild tiger shark. No shark cage. Twenty sharks suddenly materialize and close in.

This is frighteningly new to the diver, but he's seasoned. The situation may be more than he can handle but he doesn't panic. Instead, he experiences something transcendent. One man, alone, swimming with the sharks.

Like I said, please don't try this at home.