Thursday, 21 February 2013

The Theme for March - Plan your Expedition



Maybe you will raise money for charity?
This month the theme is to come up with your own expedition. It's something to work on throughout the year but at the end of March I will update you with what my expedition is and what I am doing. Your expedition can be something as simple as training for a marathon and running it, maybe you will aim to raise funds for a charity with your goal at the end to raise a certain amount of money. Maybe there is a place you have always wanted to visit and this year you're going to do it...stop putting it off and make the journey. Your expedition could be setting up a business or maybe you're going to go and seek the career you've always dreamt of, maybe your expedition will be how you will get there perhaps you will need to re-train or take on additional study? Whatever it is, keep Felicity and her team in your mind and focus on your goal, plan your expedition carefully as they did. Life is short, we spend too much time putting things off or talking ourselves out of something because we are afraid or can't justify doing it. When I finished Felicity's book I felt quite envious of the women for achieving something so big and setting themselves an incredible challenge. Now it's our turn, our expedition...whatever it is take a deep breath and get started, you will get there.
Or maybe organise that dream holiday?

Women - we are wonderful!


I'm sorry but we women are an incredible species aren't we? Look at what we do and what we have overcome over the years. We have fought battles for women's rights and gained equality in what was a male dominated world. In some countries women are still battling for their rights and to be treated equal to men. We balance our careers with raising our families, I like to think of us as the glue that holds everything together and I don't believe in the question "who is the stronger sex...men or women?" because I believe we are equal. However as a woman the answer has got to be women hasn't it? Although my husband is great at getting the lid off a jar.

But feminism aside I have just finished an inspirational book called "Call of the White - Taking the World to the South Pole" by Felicity Aston. For weeks I've been sneaking off to bed at 9pm to read more about this fascinating adventure to Antarctica. I have always been interested in Antarctica since my Lecturer at University spent a couple of hours showing us slides and talking about her visit to Antarctica and the research that she carried out there, it's a place that I find so fascinating but so far out of my reach. To go there frightens me but exhilarates me at the same time. This book took me closer, I felt like I was there with all of the women. Felicity's adventure started when she decided to put together an all women's team to ski to the South Pole with. Each woman would come from a country within the Commonwealth to form an international team. The team was to be ordinary women who wanted to inspire other people to grab their dreams or better their lives. In the end Felicity sorted through 800 applications, travelling to each of the Commonwealth countries to interview potential team members and narrow it down to  just one woman from each of the following Commonwealth countries India, Jamaica, Brunei, New Zealand, the UK, Singapore and Cyprus. Some of the women who joined the expedition had never experienced or seen snow, some had never been in a tent.

I was in complete awe of all of the women who completed the expedition as well as the women who had the courage to apply in the first place. Felicity inspired me, she fought hard for what she believed in and led these women through one of the toughest journeys in the world not just in their trek to the South Pole but also in their fundraising and gaining sponsorship and support for their expedition, these women worked tirelessly and extremely hard, fighting for what they believed in and wanted to achieve even before they set foot on the ice. Felicity's final words at the end of the book really spoke to me...she wrote that a woman who had climbed Everest came to speak at her school when she was a teenager, the woman had said that she had once been told that there are two paths in life and that taking the harder path would always lead to greater fulfilment. Felicity said that she decided from that moment that she would always seek out the 'hard path.' I haven't trekked across Antarctica but with all the bumps and winding roads in my life I would say that I have chosen the hard path and from thinking about Felicity's words and reading this book I'm glad that I have, some of the things I have encountered in my life I would never have chosen for myself or wished for myself to experience; but having experienced these bumps  I've learned a lot, become wiser and I now know that I am a stronger person than I think. If I had taken the 'easy path' my life would have been boring and I perhaps wouldn't be the person that I am today. Felicity said that the real success of the expedition was the impact that it had on the lives of others, inspiring people to make a decision in their own lives. But what I loved about the book was the determination of the women, their attitude to never giving up and proving that as women we can do anything that we want.

For some of the women on the expedition they were the first women from their country to ski to the South Pole, some of these women are still experiencing male dominance and segregation in their country and are seen as the weaker sex. How incredible must they feel to think back to what they have done and know that they have achieved something so amazing that no other woman in their country has achieved? I know I would feel on top of the world and eager to encourage other women to do the same. Thanks to this book I feel more inspired to know that I can do anything that I want and with sheer determination and willingness I will get to where I want to be...I'll get to my own Antarctica.

 

Tuesday, 5 February 2013

Did you sign up to something positive?


So...what did you sign up to? Did you sign up to anything? Surprisingly I did, although it's not going all that well. This month money was particularly tight and where the sensible thing would be to tighten the purse strings and forego some luxuries I just can't seem to do that.

I can't resist a meal deal!

As an Intellectual Dinner Club member the lack of not going out for dinner each month is proving too difficult for me. When our boiler broke during one of the coldest weeks of the year so far I used it as the perfect excuse to visit my favourite restaurant right on my doorstep, Mustard and Punch. Three courses for just £22 and half a bottle of wine thrown in, well that's a bargain isn't it? And then a visit to the Woodman in Thunderbridge was just too tempting to turn down, their menu of delicious warming dishes proved too much to resist and I overindulged by again choosing three courses...Yorkshire pudding and onion gravy, slow roasted belly pork, STICKY TOFFEE PUDDING! How could I not?

So all this over indulging and sampling beautiful, local food meant that my lack of funds were becoming increasingly worrying and my growing waist band was making my clothes disturbingly tighter...although it was the double chin that was bothering me the most (I still tap it with the back of my hand hoping it will gradually go back up to where it came from.)

Sign up to something positive.

Huddersfield parkrunSigning up for something was proving to be difficult. I had no money and my energy levels were sinking rapidly thanks to a new desk job and my over indulgence. Then a friend recommended The Park Run to me, it was genius and the perfect thing to start off my year positively. Park Run is genius, it's a nationwide event that takes place every Saturday morning in various locations up and down the country, in my case it starts at 9am (eek!) at my local park. It's completely free but all you have to do is sign up on their website and print off a barcode, which you have to present when you complete your run each week. Your results are then published on their website and you can track your progress...brilliant! Each run is 5k and you can run, walk, jog, take your Dog however you want to get around, but the idea is to run. So I did it...I did my first run on a freezing cold morning amongst people of all shapes and sizes. I ended up at the finish line 35 minutes later, propped against a tree trying very hard to get my breath back and not throw up in front of everybody. It was such a friendly, jolly place to be and everyone spurred each other on shouting encouragement and inviting us to have a nice warm drink in the cafe afterwards. Unfortunately with the snow and a wine-fuelled Friday night the other weekend it's been a while since I've been back but I've got my barcode ready, my IPod charged and I'm ready for another go on Saturday. I have to say I'm actually quite proud of myself...even if I am booked into the 3 Acres Restaurant in two weeks time, well everything in moderation I need to have some fuel to burn off at Park Run!