HBO MD
Contributor
Just a question : do you take greater pride in who you are as a diver, or your profession/work ?
Pride
- Thread starter HBO MD
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It's an interesting question.
I think I am prouder of my cave cert than I am of my medical credentials. Which is not in any way to say that I think the cave cert has the societal VALUE of my medical credentials, and I worked pretty hard for both things. But the medical stuff was stuff I had a talent for, and it came pretty easily and didn't require anything from me that I didn't already have. Getting my cave cert took three years of work at something I'm NOT particularly good at, and included a bunch of things like having to develop the strength to carry heavy gear around, when I have never in my life been strong or fit, and I am not very young any more, either.
So the sense of accomplishment I have from that exceeds the sense of accomplishment I have from being a physician, although I think perhaps immediately after finishing my surgical residency, I might have felt a bit of pride there, too.
I think I am prouder of my cave cert than I am of my medical credentials. Which is not in any way to say that I think the cave cert has the societal VALUE of my medical credentials, and I worked pretty hard for both things. But the medical stuff was stuff I had a talent for, and it came pretty easily and didn't require anything from me that I didn't already have. Getting my cave cert took three years of work at something I'm NOT particularly good at, and included a bunch of things like having to develop the strength to carry heavy gear around, when I have never in my life been strong or fit, and I am not very young any more, either.
So the sense of accomplishment I have from that exceeds the sense of accomplishment I have from being a physician, although I think perhaps immediately after finishing my surgical residency, I might have felt a bit of pride there, too.
dkktsunami
Contributor
I am now retired so I don't have to worry over this......... but I do. Oddly enough, like TS&M, diving seems to pop to the forefront. This is a little strange when you think about it, that a leasure activity bears so much importance. I always say to newly certified divers "welcome to the addiction". Might be a lot of truth in this.....good question.
themagni
Contributor
I take pride in whatever I'm doing.
I'm proud of my family; my wife and kids are great and I'd rank them as my greatest accomplishments.
I'm proud of the work I have done and will do. I have helped the lost get home, found poachers of endangered species, given sight to the blind, given dignity to disabled athletes, and let first responders talk to each other.
I work hard at the dives I manage to get to do. I take care of my gear, I keep in good physical shape, and I practice my skills regularly.
For my other hobbies, I practice when I can and take care of my equipment as best I can.
Bear in mind that hubris is one of the seven deadly sins and is the root of the other six. Heh, according to Wikipedia, "In Dante's Divine Comedy, the penitent were forced to walk with stone slabs bearing down on their backs in order to induce feelings of humility."
How many of us have a backplate?
I'm proud of my family; my wife and kids are great and I'd rank them as my greatest accomplishments.
I'm proud of the work I have done and will do. I have helped the lost get home, found poachers of endangered species, given sight to the blind, given dignity to disabled athletes, and let first responders talk to each other.
I work hard at the dives I manage to get to do. I take care of my gear, I keep in good physical shape, and I practice my skills regularly.
For my other hobbies, I practice when I can and take care of my equipment as best I can.
Bear in mind that hubris is one of the seven deadly sins and is the root of the other six. Heh, according to Wikipedia, "In Dante's Divine Comedy, the penitent were forced to walk with stone slabs bearing down on their backs in order to induce feelings of humility."
How many of us have a backplate?
NudeDiver
Contributor
don Francisco
Contributor
For me it isn't about work play. I take pride in anything I do well.
I consider myself a decent diver, but my diving expertise pales in comparison to my credentials and recognition in the cylcling industry, so there's more to be legitimately proud of there.
On the other hand I get more joy from diving.
I consider myself a decent diver, but my diving expertise pales in comparison to my credentials and recognition in the cylcling industry, so there's more to be legitimately proud of there.
On the other hand I get more joy from diving.
seaducer
Contributor
I am with you. I once considered pride, but tonight, in the gym, I took my first spinning class. As an avid cyclist I thought it would be easy.
Until the woman teaching, close to twice my age, smoked my butt like Jimmy Dean smokes his sausage. If I had any pride left, I would have hung myself with my underwear in the locker room.
OP, I think I value my diving more than my profession. If I lost my job it would be a hardship, but I could get a new job and soon be A OK. However if I lost the ability to dive I would be devestated, perhaps to the point I would need the help of the therapist to recover. Healthy? I dunno, I don't see a problem so long as I can dive
Oh, and I identify myself as a diver more than I do my job.
I'm definitely and unabashedly proud of my ability to dive primarily because I started at the age of 66 and am now 69 with more than 150 reef and wreck dives and still going strong. It has also gotten me into the habit of taking better care of my general health by pool swimming, exercising and working out with weights again to stay ready for the next dive trip. My friends couldn't believe that I would be able to qualify for diving at my age let alone flying south once a month to dive. That's the first thing that they tell their other aquaintances when I meet them. I am proud of a lot of good and worthwhile things I have been able to do in my lifetime. I see nothing wrong with being proud of your accomplishments. I also see nothing wrong with not being proud of some things I have done over the years but I don't dwell on them. Only the positive stuff.
What a wonderfully honest post! I find myself more pleased with the ability level my diving has gotten to in comparison to my graduate level education as well. I know literature, and I can talk about Joyce all day. Now learning to dive without a BC, THAT was hard! Not that you need my accolades, but I think you should be pleased with yourself for how hard you had to work for that cave cert, especially considering how heavy doubles are.
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