Encouragement: High fives vs Powerade

I recently took part in the Melbourne Marathon (before you get too amazed, it was the half marathon, not the full one!) and was very impressed not only by the thousands of people who turned up to run for a ridiculous length of time but also by all the people who came along simply to cheer all the runners on. As I ran up St Kilda road, at least 14kms into my journey, there were two little girls standing on the side of the road with their mother, presumably there waiting to cheer on their dad. As I ran past, they stuck out their hands and as I gave them both a high five, one of them said something like "you're awesome/you can do it" (it's all a bit of a blur now!) and in that moment I realised the true power of sincere encouragement. We so often forget how much of an impact a kind word, a smile or a pat on the back can have on another person. In that simple act, that little girl gave a sweaty lady in a bright pink top more energy to keep going than the cup of blue Powerade she had downed at the last drink station.

As I ran further along that road, I noticed more and more people standing on the sidelines watching, clapping and cheering people on. Sure, a lot of them had come to see a family member or friend and had made signs specifically for that person ie: "run fast daddy" or "you can do it ...insert name here..." but there were also a whole bunch of people who dressed up in matching outfits and made generic signs saying things like "you're amazing", who clapped and shouted and encouraged complete strangers like myself as we ran past. I was quite touched really. It was a beautiful Sunday morning and I'm sure there were better places these people could have been, but they had voluntarily come along to encourage all the people brave/stupid enough to run 21.1 or 42kms. I'm sure I ran faster that day than in my previous training runs not only because it was the big day and I had a bit of adrenaline kicking in, but because I was powered on by the encouragement of people who believed in what I was doing and supported me even though I was just a complete stranger passing them by.

Never underestimate the power of encouragement. You might just spur on somebody who would otherwise give up...

Fear

Ok, so here goes my first blog rant or ramble...I'll let you decide. I read an extremely inspiring interview with Alison Thompson in the ever-amazing "mook" Dumbo Feather, pass it on (if you're thinking "what the?" then go to www.dumbofeather.com - it may just change your life) and she said something very interesting. She finished the interview by saying "I had no fear any more. That's the key to everything; if you take the fear out then nothing can hurt you and it doesn't stop you from going forward. It's the same in every job and in every life; confidence is taking the fear out and going for it". It makes more sense in the context of the interview and everything that preceeded that quote, but anyway it got me thinking about fear and how crippling it is to human life. I mean, when you really think about it, the reason any person on this planet doesn't do something they want to do or ought to do is fear. It may disguise itself as something else like reason or caution or being sensible but at the core, it's pure fear. Think about it. The main reason why we never reach our potential and attempt to turn our biggest dreams into reality is because we're afraid of failure. We're afraid of looking stupid. We're afraid that we'll pour all our energy and money into something we're passionate about, only to have it not work out. We're afraid of being hurt so we keep people at arm's length. We're afraid of terrorist attacks and eating carbs and being uncomfortable. Fear is possibly the most debilitating force on this planet. That's probably a big call and I have no evidence to back that up, but this is my blog ramble, not the encyclopedia Brittanica.

Anyway, it's actually very hard (perhaps impossible) to control fear in that we do not choose what we are and aren't fearful of, it's something we inherently feel in response to specific things. BUT (yes, I realise you should never begin a sentence with "but", but again, it's my blog and I can do what I want)...what if we could learn not to not feel fear, but to move through it, to act through it, to acknowledge it but go head anyway?

For example: I have wanted to travel overseas (particularly to Uganda) and do volunteer work for a while now but due to "circumstances", I have not yet turned this into reality. I could cite several reasons for this - lack of money, indecisiveness, being on a year-long rental lease, impending events like weddings etc etc. There are plenty of excuses I could use to reasonably justify why I am still in Melbourne working in hospitality rather than somewhere else in the world doing something that I'm passionate about. However, if I strip back these excuses and look to where they come from, I find fear. Fear of the unknown. Fear of going somewhere alone where I don't know the culture. Fear of being outside my comfort circle. Fear of being in debt. Fear of people thinking I'm crazy. Fear of annoying my housemates by forcing them to have to find someone to fill my room. Fear of disappointing people because I won't be there for their wedding, or their child's first birthday or that night when everything falls apart. Fear of taking a leap of faith. None of these are physical barriers. None of these fears can physically stop me getting on a plane. I could borrow some money for a ticket and be on my way. These fears are only mental barriers, yet we justify them to such a degree that we begin to view them as concrete obstacles that we have no conceivable way of getting around. I can still be afraid of all these things but do it anyway. Fears are just excuses as to why we can't do something that we actually can. We just need to lose our fears or take them with us for the ride...

Just because I like it.

Okay, this is the part where I admit I'm actually not as technologically advanced as I had thought and begin to experiment with how this blog thing actually works. I am going to attempt to post a photo I took of my favourite piece in the Louvre; Psyche and Cupid. Just because I like it.

Hello cyberspace!

Hello everyone and no one at the same time. Ok, so I guess this is just another blog. There are millions more just like it. I do not pretend to be any more unique, thought-provoking, creative or entertaining than all the other people out there. I don't mind if the number of people reading my blog is a big fat zero. The real purpose of this blog is to attempt to take all that is jumbled up inside me and somehow order it and articulate it into writing. Not an easy task, but I'm up for the ride if you are too. That's if there's actually a "you" out there reading this. Anyway, I'm basically just going to post rants and rambles about what's going around in my head on any particular day to try and make a little more sense of it all and bounce thoughts and ideas off myself and cyberspace at large. I may even get creative and put some songs and bits and pieces on here too but I have a hunch it will mostly be a somewhat entertaining case of verbal diarrhoea. Enjoy.