What does adventure mean to you?
BOLDNESS + BRAVERY Page 14 of 18
The Impossible
This is not normally a place for me to share about films I have watched, but I feel compelled to write about The Impossible. It is the heart wrenching TRUE story of a family caught in the devastating Asian Tsunami of 2004. It is hard (and exhausting) to watch, but ultimately is a tale of human spirit and the strength that can be found in love.
When the Asian Tsunami hit back on Boxing Day in 2004 I had just started working for UNICEF. Within 48 hours of it happening, I found myself at the Manchester United training ground, recording an appeal video with their top players, who were visually shaken by what they had seen on the TV and wanted to help. In the end we raised around $200,000 through the team (and many millions more through other supporters), and some time later I went on a field visit with Manchester United legend Brian McClair and youth player Floribert Ngalula, to report back to the fans on how their support had helped.
What we found was a country that had largely built itself back up again physically, but was deeply scarred emotionally. I will never forget meeting Muk, a nine-year old girl who lost 18 members of her family in the tsunami. Her father was a fisherman and continued to live by the beach, but Muk had to go and live with her uncle and aunt inland because she was scared of the sound of the sea. That is like a city dweller being scared of the sound of cars.
I found it quite disturbing to watch The Impossible and imagine what that little girl must have gone through. And in the face of all that – the pain, the loss, the not knowing – the Thai people and many visiting and resident foreigners cared for everyone and anyone who needed it – in shelters, hospitals and in their homes. The story is a miracle; the film, a triumph; the people brave heroes.
And even though the Asian tsunami of 2004 was nearly a decade ago, history has repeated itself since with the 2011 tsunami in Japan, with earthquakes like in New Zealand and Pakistan, with droughts and all kinds of other natural disasters. And that’s without even considering the man made disasters. Time and again we see pain, and however removed we are we can’t help sharing that pain. Films like The Impossible help us understand what it must be like, and help us empathise with those who have been through it. Go watch it.
PS For anyone who has felt the recent Sandy Hook tragedy deeply, Magpie Girl is offering a free 28-day ‘Soulcare’ programme, ‘Remember-Act-Heal’. You can find out more about it here.
Alive. Brave.
Nothing like a long walk in the countryside on New Year’s Day to clear the mind and open it up for what lies ahead
My man and I choose a pair of words to guide us each year.
Last year it was ‘growth’ and ‘adventure’ (and we certainly took them to heart!)
This year our words are ALIVE and BRAVE.
We have promised each other we will ACT BRAVELY and LIVE FULLY every step of the way this year.
We already know there are changes ahead – big leaps for Do What You Love, possibly a house move, definitely a marriage, and who knows what else.
We know there will be times at the edge of each of these experiences when we will be elated, afraid, on a high, uncertain. But in spite of – or because of – all of these we are going to make 2013 a year of going for it, and building on everything we have done so far to make stuff happen.
Exciting! Scary! Let it begin!
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What is your word for 2013?
Thought for the week (2)
Wishing you courage, freedom and happiness for the year ahead!
Choosing how you use your fear
Over dinner a friend told us of an extraordinary place, deep in the mountains of Tottori Prefecture. When a long-time Kyoto resident says their favourite temple is one NOT in Kyoto, you know must be worth a visit. Without giving us any details, they piqued our interest enough to make us get in the car and drive for several hours to see it.
Why we did this
As we come to the end of our time here in Japan (only three weeks left!) I have been thinking about our reasons for coming here.
Spending six months in Japan is expensive. It’s an upheaval. And if you are studying Japanese like my man, you even get grammar tests. So why did we do this?
Because we had slipped into too much routine and needed to shake things up.
Because my man wanted to know this place that was so special to me.
Because we wanted to share a big adventure.
Because we could.
But mainly because it sounded like a good idea at the time.
And it absolutely was.
What kind of adventure sounds like a good idea to you right now?
Brave
Brave movie -image via Pixar Wiki
A few days ago, my man and I decided to go to the cinema to watch a lovely new cartoon from Disney Pixar. In Japanese it is called “Merida to osoroshi no mori”. We picked it because we generally love everything Pixar does. We had a couple of spare hours before the film began, so we went to a cafe and ended up having a long and very thought provoking conversation about bravery and courage, topics I have been thinking a lot about lately and which feature heavily in Do What You Love courses.
Call for submissions! Take a leap and share your story
Every week this space becomes a place where brave and inspiring souls share their stories about doing what they love – whether they are doing it now, or whether they are still striving to do it. It’s like we are sat around drinking tea and sharing our experiences – except we are spread out all across the world.
I would love to share your story here, and give you this platform to help you reach a new community of tens of thousands of like-minded souls.
Making tough decisions
These past few weeks I have had to make some really tough decisions. I suppose deciding to up sticks and move to Japan for several months would be a big decision for many people, although for me it was fairly easy – it felt like time for another adventure. But some of the other decisions I have made recently have felt a lot tougher.
Like the London 2012 decision. Seven years ago, when the IOC announced that London had won the right to host the Olympic and Paralympic Games in London in 2012, I decided in that moment I wanted to be the liaison officer who looks after the Japanese team. A team liaison officer is the contact person between the Organising Committee and a particular nation’s athletes and officials. It is a full on job and you are essentially on call 24 hours, but it is incredibly rewarding – you play a key role in helping everything run smoothly for the team. It is also emotional – you share their disappointments and elation as the results come in. I have done this job for many British and Japanese teams at various major sports events including the Winter Olympics and World Athletics Championships, but the Olympics in my home country was really the pinnacle.
With that goal in mind I applied and went through a very long selection process. I didn’t hear anything for a while, and we decided to make plans to come out here. But then, when we had already bought our tickets out here, and my man had already taken his sabattical from work, I was offered the exact job I wanted – as the team liaison officer for the Japan Men’s National Football Team at London 2012.
What to do?
In order to do take the job I would have had to leave Japan about three weeks after arriving, for various meetings and workshops, and then just a few weeks later go back for up to a month. It would have meant leaving my man stranded and alone just after we had got here, and then abandoning him again shortly after, when this was supposed to be our adventure. It would have meant spending every moment since I got here swotting up on medical terminology and reading every football magazine going. It would have meant a lot of pressure to polish my language skills very quickly to be able to serve the team appropriately.
In essence, it would have completely changed this experience of Japan for both me and for my man. I have absolutely no doubt that it would be an incredible experience, but this adventure here and now is a really important experience too.
So I turned it down. You probably think I’m crazy. Part of me still thinks I am crazy. But another part knows it was an important decision.
For years before Do What You love I was involved in the sports industry in a number of ways, and still get involved in certain projects. But for a number of reasons I made a big shift to this new life a couple of years ago, and this feels much more like me. And I know that by making this choice I have made space for other opportunities – and made this particular opportunity available to someone else. I guess we often forget that – by saying no to things we can actually do other people a favour.
I feel like for the first time ever I have truly chosen this new path over the old one. Chosen my home life over my work life. Chosen the slow lane over the fast lane. Chosen quiet over glamour. Chosen this adventure over that one. I am still not quite sure how I feel about this tough decision, but I am going to let things unfold as they will and have faith that it was the right choice to make at this point in my life.
Do you want to do more of what you love? If you fancy an adventure of your own why not join me for the Do What You Love e-course? Shake things up, expand your comfort zone, nurture your playful spirit and feed your creative soul. Identify your passion and make it a greater part of your every day life! Find out more and register here. Class has just started but you can still squeeze in if you are quick!
Join me for an adventure! Starts Monday – better get packing…
[Image: Tiffany Kirchner Dixon]
Monday sees the relaunch of Do What You Love the e-course – and this time it is the Japan edition! Join me for a very special adventure…
As you travel this path expanding your comfort zone, nurturing your playful spirit and feeding your creative soul, I will be sharing snippets of my big adventure out East. Join me and others all over the globe to identify your passion and make it a greater part of your every day life.
The Do What You Love e-course has been described as ‘life changing’, ‘transformational’ and ‘awe-inspiring’. It will make you think. It will make you question things – sometimes not in a comfortable way. But it will help you realise that YOU GET TO CHOOSE the life you lead.
Join me, it is going to be awesome! Class kicks off on Monday but you can still squeeze in if you hurry. Find out more and register here!
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PS I am thrilled to be interviewed on Monica Lee’s fab site Smart Creative Women today! Her site is packed with great interviews – why not spend some time over there getting inspired!