Rob AndersonLead Coach/ Principle Owner, Stand Sure Coaching · Spending time in collaborative conversations with clients

This old hat…. #wellness #fishinglife #scuba #veteran #scars

8 Jun 2025 · 1 min

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1:04

In this solo spoken reflection, the speaker recounts an eight‑year‑old, weathered hat that has accompanied him on every dive trip with veteran divers since his time with the Neptune Warrior team. He describes the hat’s physical wear—torn, sun‑bleached, and barely holding together—and explains why he continues to wear it despite friends urging him to discard it. The hat becomes a metaphor for clinging to objects that symbolize past pain and survival. The speaker warns against letting such symbols define one’s identity, emphasizing that remembering battles and wearing one’s “scars” is acceptable, but those scars should not become the whole self. He concludes with an uplifting reminder that as long as one is alive (“as long as you got air”), there is room for growth and becoming a new version of oneself.

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Man, this old hat has been with me since the start of Neptune Warrior over 8 years ago. It's torn, it's sun-bleached, it's barely holding together. Brooks keeps threatening to throw it out, and honestly, I get it. But here's the thing, for me, hey, it's comfortable, it's familiar, it's been on every dive trip I've taken since I started working with vets. It carries the salt, the sun, and the scars of every journey. And sometimes, actually a lot of times, I wonder if I keep wearing it just to prove that I've been through something. And maybe that's the danger. When we hold on to something, not for what it gives us now, but because it reminds us of pain we've survived. And don't get me wrong, it's okay to remember the battles. It's okay to wear your scars. Just don't confuse them with your identity. You're more than what you've been through. You're who you're becoming. Remember, as long as you got air, you're all right.