Strasvitya!
Sadly I’mm not actually in Russia today, but I’mm almost certainly in my armchair watching the World Cup over there. (If you are equally busy and don’t have time for my waffling, scroll down to get the usual good stuff – links to films, articles and events). Meanwhile I’mll be getting nervous for England’s prospects.
Speaking of nerves, today I want to talk about fear (WHAT.A.SEGUE… 👊)
There are many things that stop us living as adventurously as we dream of. The biggest are often either time (luckily I wrote a book about this), or money (luckily I wrote a book about this, too).
Then there are other practical barriers and inconveniences, of course, and it’s important to realise that everyone has obstacles.
The critical thing is to work out what is possible, rather than lamenting what is not.
A few weeks ago I asked people what was standing between them and adventure (I wrote a newsletter specifically about things that inhibit women, here).
What shocked me, beyond or behind most of the practical issues, was how much fear gets in the way. We don’t always acknowlege that we are scared, preferring to hide behind other excuses.
So I began specifically asking what fear was stopping people from living adventurously. I got over 400 replies (and now added to my To Do list is ‘figure out what to do with all this wonderful information’). The same issues came up time and time again.
I did my best to address and distill them all into this short film and into this blog post.
If it strikes a chord with you I would love to hear from you.
An excellent, provocative article on Fear: You may not like what Mark Twight has to say, you may not agree, it may raise your hackles. But you’ve got to applaud him for having the courage of his convictions. I read it when I’mm tempted by complacency. [Contains swearing.]
Some Other Stuff:
- Tickets are selling fast for the Night of Adventure evening in Bristol on 11 July – all for charity as always, all female speakers. I’mm really looking forward to listening to all the stories.
- An old-fashioned alternative to Instagram: intriguing photos from Douglas Mawson’s Antarctic expedition of a century ago. (The book, Mawson’s Will, is one of my favourite polar reads.)
- An Instagram account to follow: @not_disabled shows his life and climbing in the aftermath of becoming disabled. He also wrote this excellent article.
- An ambitious adventure to follow: the 7 summits, but with a twist of travelling between each mountain by cycling, rowing, or walking.
- I’md love to tell you how wonderful this book is, (139 5-star Amazon reviews etc.) but the simple truth is I’md really like to flog a bunch to clear out some space so that I can buy a new bike! It’s only £5 and it’s Buy One Get One Free… (in fact, all of my books are now on sale.) [UK only – sorry]
Enjoy the World Cup!
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