Courage

Two years ago, I swam with sharks.  We were snorkeling in the Galapagos and our naturalist spotted a reef shark.  I kicked my fins a bit harder to propel myself closer and captured some video as I briefly followed it along a ridge and then noticed a couple more resting.

Maybe I've always been a bit courageous.

So much of what I have done over the last year and a half has taken so much courage that has clearly surprised so many people around me (aside from maybe my parents).  Interestingly, it has surprised me as well.  But maybe I shouldn't have been so surprised.

At some point after the separation, my Dad brought up the reminder of watching me head off to Spain to study for a semester in college.  I forget the word he used but I got the sense he was proud of my courage to travel across the ocean on my own when I was barely an adult.  I hadn't thought of it that way until he brought it up.  He said it in a context that made me think he had confidence I would do well building a new life on my own.

Sometimes it feels like I've become a whole new person but this reflection is a reminder that I've really just re-found the person I was all along and more fully embraced and learned to love her.