The People Who Walk Beside Us During Our Turning Points

Our lives are shaped by the people who walk beside us during our turning points. This is one of mine.

Two years ago, I took a sabbatical from my previous career to find my soul and contemplate what I wanted to do with the rest of my life. After months of deep thought, I discovered the proverbial clarity that lit this path of marine conservation that I walk today. But those months of deep thought were a rollercoaster of exploration, fear, and nervousness. There were days I felt exhilarated by the possibilities and others where I couldn’t see past my own uncertainty. However, within that fog of noise I met Simon, a young man of character and enthusiasm that reminded me of my younger self. We talked about the checkpoints that we pass in life, and despite being 15+ years younger than me, I picked his brain for fresh perspective and used him as a sounding board. The more we talked, the more we bonded; we met each other’s families, I opened up my home to him, and today I’m proud to call him my brother—my literal “ride or die.”

As my sabbatical ended and I reached my fork in the road, he recognized that he would also soon encounter his own fork, so as his proper “ride or die,” I promised that I would be there for him just as he was there for me. As divers, the answer was clear: a boy’s dive trip of a lifetime to create memories and perspective. Our hearts were set on the South Pacific. It felt symbolic—two people at different stages of life, heading toward some of the most remote waters on Earth in search of clarity, purpose, and maybe even a little courage.

Today, as he finds himself at that fork—having recently abandoned the only career he has known for a chance to land somewhere in the ocean—he will eventually experience his own moment of clarity that will light the path he is destined to take. Whether this trip to Houston, Raja Ampat, Guam, and Palau gives him the perspective that will ultimately land his destiny, or if it only serves to fill his card with memories and photos/videos, I am honored to be a part of it. Watching someone chase their turning point reminds me of my own, and it’s a privilege to witness his story unfolding in real time. CaaS