I have worked hard in my life before. I used to spend my high school summers working outdoors with my dad, a landscaper. I would spend evenings picking berries with my grandfather in the woods, dodging snakes and other wildlife in the summer heat. Working six days a week while putting myself through college was nothing short of a challenge. But the result of all the hard work always felt like it paid off in the end...specifically because I could see, feel, hear, sometimes taste the result.
After completing my Divemaster course, I did not feel this immediate sense of relief or value as I normally do. The combination of the full 12-hour days full of physical challenges and mental hurdles (math+physics=Maegan is confused) was completely out of any sort of normal comfort level for me. The sense of accomplishment was faint, weary, weak. I knew it was all in my head. Truly, it was just me that could not get a handle on it. I questioned everything...
Who had I done this for? Was it the company I work for? Was it my family? What did I have to prove?
It wasn't really until today when I sat up straight in bed and realized that task that I had completed. Not only had I done it because of my love for the ocean and being connected with it. I had learned so much in such a short span of time. I pushed through, gave it my whole heart, and I learned incredible lessons.
The most important thing I learned? I, Maegan Miller do not give up and I do not back down. Challenges accelerate me forward. Game, set, match.
