ADVENTURE + ALIVENESS Page 6 of 18

What the tarot reader said… (and this is no word of a lie)

A lot of things happened during my maternity leave, most notably the arrival of our gorgeous baby girl Maia. But another that really stands out in my mind was a visit to a tarot reader in Brighton, just before we moved house.

If you had said the word ‘tarot reader’ to me a few years ago I would have rolled my eyes as the sceptic that I used to be. But then a couple of years ago, one of our collaborators—the wonderful Lilla Rogers—insisted we have a joint reading done before signing our partnership renewal contract. No pressure then! As it turns out, the reader (who pretty much blew my mind), said we have a very strong karmic connection, hinted at by the fact the same karma cards kept coming up again and again. And then she said we had known each other in several past lives, including one when we were travelling male musicians in Ireland, and another where I was a shaman and Lilla was my assistant. As you might imagine, we signed that contract pretty much as soon as we got out the door, and Lilla continues to be a dream to work with.

With that, my curiosity was officially piqued. I have been back twice since, once getting a valuable insight which helped me make a major business decision, and once a couple of months ago, just before we moved house.

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Replace fear with curiosity

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As anyone who’s done it knows, discovering your life’s purpose and getting on the path to doing what you love is the most incredible feeling in the world. It’s exciting, exhilarating and energising but at the same time there’s an element of fear that comes with jumping into the unknown.

You might know what you should be doing (taking brave steps forward and embracing a whole new world and everything in it) but feel afraid to act because making such bold decisions or big life changes seems risky. What if you lose what you already have by walking this new path?

Before you know it the internal conflict between what you truly want and what you already have is spiralling out of control and you find yourself stuck. Frozen by fear.

Whenever you your mind starts ruling your heart, it can help to remind yourself why you went looking for your true passion in the first place. Why is pursuing a life with meaning important to you? How did you feel when you were lost; wandering aimlessly through life? Would you really be happy doing something that doesn’t matter to you? What do you really have to lose by taking this new path? Then ask yourself:

  1. What is the best that can happen?
  2. What is the worst that can happen?
  3. What will happen if I do nothing and everything stays the same?

As Alan Watts says: “By replacing fear of the unknown with curiosity we open ourselves up to an infinite stream of possibility. We can let fear rule our lives or we can become childlike with curiosity, pushing our boundaries, leaping out of our comfort zones, and accepting what life puts before us.”  

Sometimes the only way to overcome your fear of unknown is to take the first step and do something. Turn your fear into curiosity. You have nothing to lose and everything to gain.

“You’re already naked, so there is no reason why  you don’t follow your heart.” ~ Steve Jobs

Is something stopping you from following your dreams? Do you want to make changes but find the process daunting? Is fear holding you back? Think about it… what are you afraid of that you should be curious about instead?

L.E.A.P.

How to start living a fear-free life

Today’s post is from our Senior Editor, Rachel Kempton

“I learned that courage was not the absence of fear, but the triumph over it.” ~ Nelson Mandela

If we could wave a magic wand and remove all your fears – every single one of them – how different would your life be? What would you do?

I’ve been thinking about this a lot since my grandpa got ill. At the ripe old age of 88 he might be frail and suffering with a brain tumour, but as he looks back on his life, he’s as positive as ever about the amazing experiences he’s had and the valuable lessons he’s learnt along the way. He talks with so much passion and pride about his adventures, for example: how he rose through the ranks to become Captain in the army and took big risks for high rewards in business; how he travelled the world and bought a 27ft yacht which he sailed around Holland, and how he taught himself to play the piano and he even wrote a book about his experiences so our family have a record of the life and times enjoyed by his generation. “I’ve had the most wonderful life,” he always says, “I’ve no regrets. None whatsoever.”

FullSizeRender-3Self published: my grandpa’s book. He always says ‘life’s not bad’  – it’s his way of saying ‘life is wonderful’

It must feel amazing to be able to look back at your life and know that you have achieved everything you wanted to. You must feel immense satisfaction and inner peace knowing that regardless of how scared you might have felt, or how worried you were about the impact of your choices, you were brave enough to follow your dreams and live the life you imagined.

As John Lennon puts it: “There are two basic motivating forces: fear and love. When we are afraid, we pull back from life. When we are in love, we open to all that life has to offer with passion, excitement, and acceptance. We need to learn to love ourselves first, in all our glory and our imperfections. If we cannot love ourselves, we cannot fully open to our ability to love others or our potential to create. Evolution and all hopes for a better world rest in the fearlessness and open-hearted vision of people who embrace life.”

Fear can be a good thing – if we choose to see it that way

It doesn’t matter whether you are a first-time parent, an aspiring traveller or a seasoned athlete, every single one of us is afraid of something. Fear is a tricky emotion. It can paralyze you. It can keep you from your dreams. It can keep you small, safe and comfortable. At yet, in just the right doses, it can also be your friend.

Or fears can be our greatest source of power, our biggest motivation and our best teachers. What they need is love. Fear only grows when you let it consume you and that usually happens when we forget how helpful it is trying to be. Ultimately, fear really does want the best for us, no matter how irrational it may seem.

Embrace the four Cs

  1. Clarity: Of course it’s only natural that we want to deny, run from and ignore the things that scare us, but the first step in dealing with fear is to recognize that it is inevitable. Keep a clear and objective mind and it is possible to move through fear and overcome it. Just stay focused on what you want to achieve, and what you’re doing to get there.
  2. Choice: when you choose to make friends with fear you open yourself up to a whole new world of possibility. Think about all the fantastic opportunities that could come your way if you can find the courage to expand your horizons.
  3. Confidence: it may take a huge amount of strength, but when it comes to facing your fears it helps to be in the know. Preparing in advance – whether it be with information, physical training, psychological help and support, or by improving your skills or level of experience – will help you keep your cool and maintain a sense of control when the going gets tough.
  4. Character building: remember that we can only grow if we have the courage to challenge ourselves. When we face our fears we become better versions of ourselves.

As you face your fears and increase your freedom and happiness by allowing your dreams to become a reality, the good life is inevitable. So ask yourself this: what would I do today, if I were brave?

Need more inspiration? We love these books about bravery…

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A week in Rwanda…

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This is a guest post from Claire Le Hur who is cycling to China with her fiancé Stuart Block. The couple will start their journey in East Africa where they will follow new ‘silk roads’ charting the journey of key natural resources as part of an exciting new education project. Claire will be riding a bamboo bike, built by an African social enterprise and Stuart will ride a tandem, keeping the back seat free for those they meet en route. They will also be raising money and awareness for two great educational charities. Find out more about Claire’s big adventure here.

Claire Le Hur

In my last post I talked about the genocide memorial and this atrocity is still what many people think of when they think of Rwanda. And yet Rwanda is a beautiful and fertile country where 80 per cent of the children go to school and where littering is illegal. In fact people are so conscious of keeping their community clean that they spend the last Saturday of every month cleaning up their streets.

It is amazing how far Rwanda come in the last 20 years, but despite its progress there are still many big issues simmering beneath the surface that lead you to question if, and when, things might start to unravel again. For example:

  • 80 per cent of the population live on less than $2 per day, and 65 per cent on less than $1
  • freedom of speech is non-existent
  • disabled people are often exiled and there are stories of a ‘prison’ on Lake Kivu
  • despite the brilliant work by the Gacaca court to reconcile Tutsi and Hutu, many feel that there are still underlying tensions because most government and high paid jobs are now being taken by Tutsis and because many Tutsis still feel that revenge would be just.
  • Allegedly Rwanda is supporting the rebels over the border in DRC and there are some dubious dealings going on concerning the export of minerals and weapons.
  • President Kagame has worked wonders since the genocide, and while there is something to be said for a ‘benign dictatorship’, in 2017 he will stand for a third term – which is constitutionally illegal – and there is no opposition. Who knows what will happen at election time but hopefully the current climate in Burundi is not a hint of things to come.

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Almost fearless

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This is a guest post by adventurer, author and motivational speaker Alastair Humphreys. Find out more about Alastair here.

Alastair Humphreys

“O wonder! How many goodly creatures are there here! How beauteous mankind is! O brave new world, that has such people in’t!” ~ William Shakespeare

It’s good to be almost fearless.

Many of the things that used to really frighten me don’t bother me at all anymore.

Most of us have been brought up, very sensibly, to worry a lot. Here are some of the issues that we like to have a good worry about:

  • Career progression
  • Earning as much money as our friends
  • Getting a decent Christmas bonus (a mixture of the two points above)
  • What people think about us
  • Wearing stylish clothes

In recent years I have not worried about any of these. (Those who know me will say I never paid much heed to the last one!). And the funny thing is that the less I care, the more I just concentrate on following my own path, doing what I care about and am passionate about, the more money I earn and the curve of my “career” progression steepens.

I’m aware that my “career” is an odd one, hence the quote marks. But the point is that by consciously choosing not to worry about all the things I was supposed to be worrying about, a lot of them simply slipped away. They didn’t really matter to me.

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How do you train for a 10-month, 10,000km, cycle ride on a bamboo bike?

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This is a guest post from Claire Le Hur who is cycling to China with her fiancé Stuart Block. The couple will start their journey in East Africa where they will follow new ‘silk roads’ charting the journey of key natural resources as part of an exciting new education project. Claire will be riding a bamboo bike, built by an African social enterprise and Stuart will ride a tandem, keeping the back seat of the tandem free for those they meet en route. They will also be raising money and awareness for two great educational charities. Find out more about Claire’s big adventure here.

Claire Le Hur

People keep asking me how Stuart and I are preparing for the 10-month trip in which we plan to cycle in excess of 10,000km and, to be honest, I don’t really know how to answer.

Those who have done similar things have told me that you can’t really prepare for a challenge like this. They say that the real training happens during the first couple of weeks on the road. I just hope it’s true – and that the places we go and the people we meet will take my mind off my sore legs and bum!

Of course many people who take on challenges like this would go all out to get super fit and bike ready, just look at Mark Beaumont who recently set a new world record by cycling over 10,000km from Cairo to Cape Town in less than 42 days! Luckily for me, we aren’t trying to break any records!

Then there are inspirational people like the retired headmistress Anne Mustoe, who took up cycling at the age of 54 and rode around the world twice – once in each direction – writing brilliant books about her adventures along the way. I love this excerpt from her obituary in The Times:

“… When she resolved to cycle round the world, Mustoe was 54, somewhat overweight and unfit, and without any idea of how to mend a puncture. She had not ridden a bike for 30 years, wobbled when she tried again, and she hated camping, picnics and discomfort. Her Condor bicycle, customised for her by a mechanic with a workshop in the Old Kent Road, was bought for her as a leaving present from the girls at her school, and she was still riding it 22 years and about 100,000 miles later on her last cycle trip this year…”

Anne Mustoe bookYou can buy Anne’s books here.

Stu and I lie somewhere between these extremes (albeit Stu has Mark’s passion, drive and determination, and being a cycling novice, I’m definitely more like Anne!) but hopefully we’ll make a good team. And who knows, there might even be a book in us too! 

But back to my training…

In April 2014 I got on a road bike for the first time in years. Stu and I cycled up the famous Col de la Columbière, which was still closed to cars due to the snow. It was amazingly do-able, although we went very slowly.

Fast forward 16 months and we were back in the Alps. I had cycled up the Col twice, from both sides, and rather worryingly I found it so much harder. There is a lot to be said for being a novice and not having any idea about what is going on!

IMG_6167Getting some practice in: cycling Col de la Colombière in the Alps, one of the most famous and notorious Tour de France climbs

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This experience flagged up three big issues that I needed to overcome pretty quickly:

Issue #1: Stop comparing myself

I realised that I had to stop getting disheartened when ‘Super-Stu’ disappears over the top of yet another hill leaving me panting, sweating, cursing him and sometimes even crying, as I make my way up to the top.

Our first ‘training ride’ in the Alps was the perfect example of such a scenario. “Let’s do a nice 60km circuit and go up the Col de la Columbière from the other side,” said Stuart. I thought that sounded OK. Only three hills and 2100m climbing – but I wouldn’t think about that! The first hill proved horrible, very narrow with lots of gravel, and I was slipping everywhere, while doing climbs that were about 18%. I was forced to admit defeat twice (which is not easy for me) and get off and walk.

Now I am truing to stop comparing myself to Stu and be honest with him about how I am finding the challenge rather than getting emotional and snapping at him. I keep reminding myself that I am not a pro, that this is all quite new to me and that I am proud of my own achievements.

Issue #2: Saddling up with  smile

My saddle is made by Brooks so it’s made of very hard leather which is meant to mould to your bum ensuring maximum comfort… in the end! I have been using mine for about two months now and must have done hundreds of miles but the saddle is still so hard. After a big cycle ride it’s impossible to sit down properly and I confess I’m slightly worried about how much longer it will take to break in. Watch this space, I will let you know how it goes.

Brooks-SaddleIssue #3: Getting the right bike

My beautiful bamboo bike is finished! British engineer and bike designer Rich Chapman has done an amazing job on it following the wonderful work Kasoma Nordin started in Uganda.

Claire's bamboo bike in the makingKasoma is regarded as the best Bamboo bike builder in Africa and he’s now producing beautiful bamboo bikes. This is Claire’s in the making

We decided that riding my new bike around the Alps would be a bit silly as a heavy touring bike might not do much for my confidence! So I was riding my old road bike with temperamental gears and a dodgy back wheel, which finally broke on a fast descent from Col de Croix-Fry. Back in London I rode the bamboo bike for the first time in torrential rain  – not really a fair first outing  – so it’s been great to get out there and ride it properly.

Claire's bamboo bikeClaire’s bamboo bike is ready for action

We’ve been trying to be sensible and go out for regular bike rides, with some back to back days, but there is little more to our training programme that than. Stuart did joke one evening that we should try to ‘fatten up’ a bit before we go because we’ll be burning so much energy so that has been the perfect excuse to eat and drink a lot! It will be very interesting to see how my body changes as the months go on. Psychologically things are bound to change too, and I know that I need to relax and not think about things too much… which will be very good for me!

As our leaving date gets closer we have also been doing lots of admin and I am driving myself crazy with lists! There’s so much to do – not just in terms of packing up and making sure we have the right kit, but saying our goodbyes, etc. We’ve also just finished getting the charity and educational side of things up and running now, which will make the trip even more exciting and worthwhile. I still can’t believe we’re about to head off and sometimes I find myself wondering what I’d be doing for the next year if we weren’t about to head off on this great adventure!

My next post will be about our adventures with Kasoma Nordin in Uganda before we head into Rwanda – I can’t wait!

Introducing our new guest blogger: Claire Le Hur

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We are delighted to introduce you to our new guest blogger, Claire Le Hur. Classics teacher Claire is about to embark on a huge adventure with her fiancé, and fellow teacher, Stuart.

Claire Le Hur
New to the world of cycling, Claire is now in serious training

The couple plan to cycle to China following ancient and new silk routes from Africa to Asia before heading back to Europe. Despite being a cycling novice, Claire will be riding a bamboo bike made by a social enterprise in Uganda while Stuart rides a tandem keeping the back seat free for those they meet en route who wish to be part of the journey.

Claire Le Hur intro post

Travelling at the pace of 1st century traders, using modern electronics to record the adventure, Claire and stuart will explore the shifting balance of power in the world economy and other geographical, historical, anthropological and linguistic themes in an exciting educational project aimed at students worldwide.

In partnership with Tutor2U, one of the world’s leading educational websites, and working with the British Council’s connecting classrooms programme, the project will see the couple produce blogs, videos, Skype lessons and other educational resources to help young people understand how trade, technology and education have helped shape economic development over the centuries.

They are also raising money and awareness for two educational charities, one in Africa and one in Asia. Claire will be posting regularly to keep us up to date with her and Stuart’s progress and you can read her first post, about how they are preparing for this huge challenge, on Tuesday September 9.

What do you love about adventure?

What do you love about adventure? The Do What You Love team share their thoughts…

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VICKIE: For me, adventure is always accompanied by a sense of excitement, anticipation and novelty. Maybe even a little bit of fear, but in a good way! There is something strangely comforting in finding yourself alone with your backpack on the other side of the world. Letting go of what I know makes me feel like I am a part of something bigger and it is very refreshing.

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RACHEL: This year my mantra is: “say yes to new experiences”. So instead of questioning why an opportunity has come my way, I just embrace it. I figure that by saying yes instead of no:

1) I have nothing to lose, and lots to gain!

2) I’ll feel more positive and excited about life

3) I’ll learn and grow

4) I’ll enrich my quality of life and make possibility a reality for me, and my family.

5) I’ll be more confident when it comes to making big decisions.

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LOUISE: Life is an adventure! I like to think of everyday as a new start, a new journey, a new adventure. Letting the flow take me, embracing what may show up. Adventure to me is also growing, expanding and trying something new. Following our intuition will lead to many more new adventures.

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PAUL: My sense of adventure had been repressed a little until I met my wife. She reminded me of the wonders that lie just an adventure away. I didn’t need a destination just a desire to go. We live in a world full of inspiration and allowing ourselves to be inspired is the first step towards the courage to venture forth. I look forward to sharing my adventures with my girls.

What are your thoughts? What do you love about adventure?

Leave a comment below…