I swam in the ocean at night.

I was visiting FL and a friend of a friend has a fancy boat and he took us out one night to look at the stars from about 11 miles out. One thing lead to another and pretty soon everybody was jumping in the ocean. Other than a small moon and some stars, it was pitch dark out.I was freaking out but I didn't want to be a wimp so I gave into peer pressure and jumped in. The moment my feet left the boat I knew I made a huge mistake. It must be similar to how bridge jumpers feel when they make the jump and then suddenly regret it. When I hit the water I instinctively pulled my legs up against my body, fearing that a shark heard the splash sound and was swimming over to eat me.I kept trying to reassure myself with facts about the statistical dangers and how there aren't any man eaters (bullsharks?) in that part of the ocean, etc... I do the same thing when I fly.Some of my friends were diving down to see how deep they could go holding their breath and I decided I might as well try that too since I had come this far. The really scary part of that is diving into the darkness. With only a little moonlight the water takes on an inky blackness. Going headfirst into possible doom was what it felt like. I swear I could feel the water temperature change from the warm surface water to the colder, deeper water. The combination of the cold and the darkness would scare me back to the surface.When I said the scariest part was diving into the blackness, I may have misspoke. I think maybe the scariest part is the moment when I turned around to swim back to the surface because I could feel my body in the warm water and the coldness of the deep water wrapped around my feet and licking my toes. I knew I was just moments away from having my feet grabbed by something lurking in the cold water. Cold water creatures are always the most vicious and gruesome.Swimming in the ocean at night was putting my life totally in fate's hands. It showed me how small and insignificant I am in the grand scheme of Life. It makes you realize that you're just another animal's steak dinner and have no more purpose on this earth than any other animal. It was both humbling and terrifying.