Boundless and Unfiltered

Tag: mental-health

  • Embracing the Suck… and Quitting (Yes, Really)

    At the start of this year, I decided it was high time to add another “adventurous me” badge to my collection: get a scuba diving license.

    Simple, right? I mean, I’ve run long distances for fun. I’ve trekked to Everest Base Camp. Surely, hanging out underwater, looking at fish, would be a breeze.

    Spoiler alert: it wasn’t.

    Step 1: The Online Exam That Would Not End

    First came the RAID certification. Ten-plus hours of e-learning, dense manuals, videos, and quizzes designed to make you question every life decision you’ve ever made. The online exam felt like the final boss of a video game.

    I scored 86.6%. Yes, oddly specific, and yes, I celebrated like I’d just won an Olympic medal. Little did I know, this was only the warm-up.

    Step 2: Four Days in the Pool… and the Ocean

    Next up: four days of practical training.

    • Day One (Pool): Wow. This is serious.
    • Day Two (Ocean): Okay… I’m getting the hang of this.
    • Day Three (Ocean): I hate this.
    • Day Four (Ocean): Well… more on that later.

    Each day brought a new set of skills to master. And by “master,” I mean: perform them perfectly under pressure or face the terrifying possibility of having to do them again. In the pool, I could fake it. In the ocean… less so.

    The whole experience was supposed to be joyful — a break from the everyday, a chance to explore the underwater world. Instead, it became intense, serious, and, honestly, exhausting. Less “finding Nemo” and more “subaquatic performance review.”

    Step 3: Embrace the Suck… Navy SEAL Style

    There’s a famous phrase from the Navy SEALs: embrace the suck. The idea is simple: life will suck sometimes, so lean in, grit your teeth, and push through.

    I leaned in… and promptly realized something important. I wasn’t enjoying this. I wasn’t good at this. And, most importantly, there was no joy in sight.

    And that’s when it hit me: maybe embracing the suck doesn’t always mean push harder. Sometimes it means: admit this isn’t for you.

    Step 4: The Radical Art of Quitting

    On day four, I did something I rarely do: I quit.

    No dramatic exit. No shame. Just a quiet, deliberate, unapologetic nope. I walked away, and do you want to know the best part?

    I felt amazing.

    That weekend, I went back to the things that genuinely bring me joy — running, hiking, CrossFit — and had a renewed appreciation for my own “normal” adventures. I was relieved, happy, and, dare I say, proud.

    Step 5: Lessons From Sucking at Scuba

    This experience taught me several important things:

    1. Courage isn’t always about perseverance. Sometimes it’s about knowing when to walk away.
    2. It’s okay to suck at something. Really. You don’t have to be good at everything you try.
    3. Joy is a compass. If it’s gone, maybe that’s a signal.
    4. Embrace the suck… but selectively. Navy SEALs have one approach; life has many. Sometimes the bravest move is quitting with grace.

    So here’s my official advice for 2026: try new things. Fail spectacularly. Suck at something. And know that walking away doesn’t make you weak — it makes you human.

    After all, life’s too short to do things that aren’t fun (and, yes, that includes scuba, apparently).

  • Finding purpose in the peaks

    A few nights ago, I did what I’ve done a hundred times before – I watched 14 Peaks: Nothing Is Impossible featuring the indomitable Nims Purja. Each time I watch it, I feel this itch to live better and to the fullest, pushing me to believe that we are capable of so much more than we think. Nims didn’t just climb mountains; he shattered limits, conquering all 14 peaks over 8000 meters in record time (6 months and 6 days!). If that isn’t superhuman, I don’t know what is.

    Climbing out

    Rewind a few years, and I was in a dark place. Personal issues had me spiralling, and I remember clawing my way out, one small step at a time. Eventually, I reached a point where the darkness lifted, and I could see a positive path ahead. But something was missing – a spark, a purpose.

    Despite a fulfilling life, I felt something was amiss. Life seemed to be slipping by, leaving me merely going through the motions.

    Waking up

    Then, fate intervened. I stumbled upon 14 Peaks, and watching Nims Purja with his fearless determination and boundless ambition stirred something deep within me. It was as if he reached through the screen and handed me a lifeline – a reminder that life is short, and fleeting, death is inevitable, and there’s no time to waste – so, we must seize every moment.

    That documentary was a wake-up call, a voice screaming inside me, “WAKE UP AND START LIVING!” It reminded me of a quote from Douglas Adams, author of The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy (an excellent read, by the way): “There is an art, it says, or rather, a knack to flying. The knack lies in learning how to throw yourself at the ground and miss… Clearly, it is this second part, the missing, which presents the difficulties.”

    For me, this translated into throwing myself fully into life and letting go of fear. I decided to plunge into the unknown, to say “yes” more often, and to embrace life with the same fiery passion I saw in Nims.

    Embracing the journey

    I started pushing my boundaries, meeting new people, learning new things, and saying yes to adventures I’d once shied away from. This culminated in a life-changing journey: trekking to Everest Base Camp. The experience was both, humbling and exhilarating. The mountains have a way of calming your spirit while reminding you of your insignificance. They strip away the illusion of control and ground you in the present moment.

    The present and beyond

    I will forever be grateful to Nims Purja for igniting a fire within my spirit, allowing it to take flight and soar. I dream of the day I’ll return to that snow-clad terrain, surrounded by the majestic peaks of Everest, Lhotse, and the mighty others. It’s among those towering giants that I feel closest to the divine, enveloped in pure bliss. If that’s not standing in the presence of gods, I don’t know what is.