Day 346 – What is humility

Humility is the quality of being modest, reverential, even politely submissive, and never being arrogant, contemptuous or rude. Humility, in various interpretations, is considered a virtue in many religious and philosophical traditions, being connected with notions of transcendent unity with the universe, and of egolessness.

I have always been an "A-student". High-school, University, subsequent jobs – all have been pretty easy for me. I guess, I'm fairly smart, so my brain grasps and applies new concepts very quickly. I'm used to it.

My body though is a totally different story altogether. Thanks to my mother's awesome genes I look pretty athletic, but I'm not at all. And I mean, AT ALL. During high-school I was exempt from PE due to my poor vision and absence of contact lenses, humanitarian faculties in Russia don't offer sports, and in general I had never been drawn to engaging myself into any sportive activity. I'm also very clumsy. As a result, all my sports attempts have always been lamentable at best.

In the physical part of the Dive Master course there are a lot of skills you have to master. Rescuing an unconscious diver is probably the most difficult for me (well, so far). You have to tow the diver to the shore (sometimes against current), while performing rescue breathing and at the same time removing their gear and your own. Oh my! My uncoordinated self suffers the most from this exercise. I already when through this nightmare once last summer in my Rescue Diver training, but now we have to display "demonstrational quality" (since we are becoming Dive Masters which implies assisting in teaching). That means you have to do everything super slow, point out and talk through every important step in the sequence AND make it seem very easy. Well, it is not easy. Not for me. Not at this point anyway. Logically, with my brain, I understand everything and I can visualize myself doing it perfectly well. But alas, it takes my body a long time to "get" new concepts, it's just not as smart as my brain, and there's nothing I can do about it.

I know that I will definitely master all that needs to be mastered in the course, just give it time. But I have to admit, it is very strange not to be an "A-student" that I usually am. I'm totally not used to that. I'm kind of liking it though. Unexpectedly, this course has become a psychological exercise for me as well. It is my lesson in humility. Here's to the virtues!