"saving myself"

Last night i had a strange but very vivid dream.

I dreamt i was on a boat in the sea with a group of people, one being an ex boyfriend who i haven't thought of for a couple of years.
We were in charge of holding some ropes and we were chatting away about his current girlfriend when my rope got caught under the boat.
I jumped in to untangle it, knowing that i am terrified of the sea, and almost drowned. i started splashing about to get someone's attention for them to jump in and help me but no one did.
Everything went all peaceful after that and i remember reaching up to a rope - the rope that got tangled. I then surfaced and got back on the boat.

When i went up to my ex i asked him why he didn't save me when i thought i was drowning... and he replied with "sometimes you have to learn how to save yourself"

Is there any meaning behind this? Is this a sign about something?
And was there any significance on him being in my dream?

i cannot stop thinking about it...any help would be greatly appreciated!!

Maybe this is telling you something you must do to save yourself from something or some one going on in your life. Maybe this is telling you you need to save yourself in real life...........