There was a time when putting my face underwater brought on panic attacks and the feeling I would die, which is why I decided to train as a scuba instructor. Go big right?!
As Mark Twain so elegantly put it…
‘Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things that you didn’t do than by the one you did do. So, throw off the bowline. Catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore. Dream. Discover.’
I certainly threw off my bowline and dug deep, and frankly, I scared the life out of myself for the next three years. With hypnotherapy, crying in my dive mask often, and more visualisations than an Olympic athlete would use, I showed myself and the world that we can do anything if we have the courage to try. Anything at all.
What did success look like?
This….
That moment was when I knew I’d made it and it was worth every tear and moment of terror.
Fast forward two years, I herniated a disc in my back and found myself unexpectedly unemployed. Who knew sneezing was so dangerous? I needed a new challenge whilst recovering in bed, so started a marine conservation cause Friends for Sharks with my partner. We planned to give free talks to adults and children around the globe, making marine conservation accessible to all, and talking about the importance of sharks. All whilst raising money for two charities, without funding or an income for ourselves for 18 months. Small matters we’d deal with later, or so I hoped when I lay awake wondering what on earth we’d taken on. We spent the last of our savings on two round the world flights before we could back out.
We started off not knowing what Twitter was, let alone how to plan a world tour. I still don’t know what Twitter is but we finished having completed 87 talks, in 8 countries, and having presented to over 7000 people.
What did success look like?
A lot like this…
School talks in The Cook Islands.
One of 60 events in New Zealand
Working hard to get press coverage in each town
With plenty of this…
Teaching the next generation about sharks
School children pledges for sharks were a great ongoing theme
A little bit of this…
Getting engaged diver-style
More of this than we’d like…
The fire that stopped our biggest event in Vancouver, four days after our first trip to A&E…on the day we arrived in Canada
More hospital time in New Zealand
Exhausted in Thailand after 11 months on the road
And finally, this!
We can do anything if we have the courage to try. Anything at all.
With that attitude in mind, I have entered the Miss Diving Specials 2017 competition to win a diving adventure. I would like to win so I can join that liveaboard, give shark conservation talks to new audiences, and show others what can be done with a pocket full of courage. I also want to win to take my husband on honeymoon, which is something we can’t afford to do and he dearly deserves some ocean time. That man, he’s amazing. Truly he is.
To win, I need the most likes of my photograph at this link. It’s that simple and the current leader has 600 or so votes.
Please will you vote for me? It will take less than 20 seconds to do and you might just make a mermaid’s dream come true.
Let’s dream big and make this happen!
Vote Here
Thank you, from the bottom of my heart.
Kathryn
Place your vote at: https://premium.easypromosapp.com/voteme/811128/627152656
A Note from the Editor
If you were to look for someone who deserves to be rewarded for their hard work in the interest of diving and conservation, you don’t really need to look any further than Kathryn. It would be easy for you think that I am biased as Kathryn is an International Editor for The Scuba News, but my support runs much deeper than just this. I was proud to sponsor the Friends for Sharks initiative that Kathryn co-founded and I did this because her passion for conservation issues literally jumped out at me. Since then Kathryn has gone on to become not only a colleague but also someone who I feel lucky to call a close friend. A friend whom I have no hesitation in voting for and I encourage you all to do the same!!
Lee
Founder and Managing Editor, The Scuba News
