I was having a heart-to-heart with a precious friend last week, and she shared something so profound with me that it immediately brought tears to my eyes. I’ve since shared it with a few others, and they too were brought to tears by the sheer beauty of the analogy. I asked her if she would be OK with me sharing her words and she said yes . . . so here is my rendition and thoughts on a truly life-changing moment for me.

This has been a hard season for me. I chose to step away from a path I truly believed I would be on forever. I’m still not ready to publicly share the reasons why, and honestly, I may never be. But this friend reached out because she suspected that something major had happened and wanted to know how to support me. Can I just say that everyone needs a friend like Sarah? They really do.

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So we talked. And talked. And talked. She let me pour my heart out and share my deep disappointments and sadness and what she said next pierced my heart.

“Meggan, in life you are going to come across mud puddle jumpers.”

I looked at her quizzically, and she explained.

“Mud puddle jumpers are the kind of people who splash around in mud puddles with their yellow boots on, laughing and taking pictures so that everyone can see how much fun they’re having. But you, Meggan . . . you are a scuba diver. You build relationships that have depth. You go deep into the darkness with people, and they can trust that when everything is black all around them, you won’t leave. You’ll share your oxygen tank, and you will trust each other in the deep. You are safe, vulnerable, confident, brave, and secure without having an ego.

You’ve been through too much in your life to be satisfied with shallow mud puddles, and mud puddle jumpers are incapable of scuba diving in their relationships. There’s nothing wrong with you, you simply want more in a friendship than some people are willing to give.”

My heart began to heal at that very moment as I agreed with her words.

She is absolutely right, I am a scuba diver. I don’t do fake or shallow relationships, and I have often felt lonely when I’m in a crowd of mud puddle jumpers. But every so often, I come across another scuba diver and all feels right with the world.

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So to my fellow scuba diving introverts, I see you and more importantly—there’s nothing wrong with you. Be OK with not fitting in with the mud puddle jumpers. The truth is you were never meant to.