At some point, your two or three months are over, and you fly home. Probably, not much about your life there has changed while you were gone. What has changed is you. You now see your own life t from a distance, in a different perspective. The story you used to tell yourself about who you are, why things went wrong, what you deserve, well, you know now that it was never the only version. None of this needs a boat, or a mentor, or a dive site.
You are leaner and stronger than when you arrived, from months of actual physical work. You have a certificate, that says exactly what you did with your time — not "took a break," not "found myself," but becoming a Divemaster. Something real, that you show anyone who ever doubted you, not least yourself.
But you do not just take home a new way of seeing, and a fitter body, and a certificate. You take home people: your mentors, the instructor you worked with, and most of all the other trainees who sat in that small group with you and heard the real version of your story, not the polished one you tell everyone else. You will stay in touch. You will always be able to talk to someone who was actually there, who knows exactly what you are talking about, because they went through the same thing together with you.
What now?
You remember Estragon and Vladimir, waiting for Godot on their empty stage? Suppose they would have read all this, they might be convinced. But that would not have changed anything. The only way to change things, is to actually walk off that empty stage. So, I am not expecting this small booklet changed your life. I did not write it with that in mind. Reading this made you think, maybe. Feel something, maybe. Vladimir and Estragon also thought, and felt, and talked beautifully about all of it, on that empty stage. But they never moved.
I don’t think you need more conviction than you already have right now. I guess you have had enough conviction for years, but you have become an expert in finding reasons to wait one more season, one more year, until the time is right, until the kids are older, until work slows down. It will not slow down. The time will never be right. You will never be perfectly prepared.
But before you do anything, be honest with yourself about one thing. This program is NOT INSTEAD of therapy. If you are in real crisis right now, if you are having thoughts of suicide, if you are in the grip of an addiction, if you are currently under care for a serious psychiatric condition, this program is not the right call. Talk to a professional. You can bring this text, but you need to talk to a professional, not to us. We are not qualified to help you. When in doubt, please talk to a professional first.
If not, just tell us where you are, what you are dealing with, and how much time you think you can take. We will help you work out the rest — the dates, the shop, the practical side of just getting on a plane. That part is easy. Then you have done the hard part already: deciding to actually talk with us.
https://www.burnoutupforair.com
