Get out of your comfort zone, and lose yourself in Nature!!

Don’t you ever have a feeling of restlessness? A feeling urging you to get out, explore, experience, live.

 I believe that for most people, if not all, it is fundamental to once in a while get out of our comfort zone, and get lost in the big beautiful world. I say comfort zone, because that’s where most of us reside the biggest part of our lives. It’s the place where all is guaranteed: food, home, money, security. It consists of the limits we ourselves create to get a feeling of comfort and being protected.

But it’s like living only half. Since when does someone fully live whilst remaining forever in the comfort zone? Since when does anyone get the feeling of being truly alive if you never dare to challenge yourself, to push your boundaries, to take the risk, and in the process, find your true self?

In the last few years I have been on different journeys, and especially the last two times have been incredibly mind-opening and boundary-pushing. It isn’t always nice nor fun to get out of your comfort zone. You encounter a lot of personal limitations, prejudices, and weird stuff you never knew you possessed. You get tired faster, as you learn so much. You get confused because you have to redefine who you are.

But the experience is worth it. You get a better idea of who you are, in good and bad times. You get the opportunity to change the things you don’t like about yourself. You feel alive. You live experiences you’ll never forget.

Don’t you just love being alive? But… are you alive, consciously, fully, completely alive? You should ask yourself that question once in a while. Because it’s only too easy to fall into a waking sleep, and miss out the most spectacular moments in live, which at the same time we normally consider so ordinary.

Personally, I cannot wait until the next time I can get out, into the wild. I cannot wait until I can again measure myself against the great mountains. To climb a mountain, is to learn to be humble, and at the same time have endless faith. Climbing a mountain is pushing boundaries, its suffering deeply at times, but knowing that, once you’re there, you enter into the world of the mystic, of the spiritual, because, dear reader, on top of the mountain the divine exists in all its glory. On the top it is where you fall in love with life, and inevitably, with the mountains.

“You don’t really conquer a mountain. You conquer yourself. You overcome sickness, and everything else – your pain, aches, fears – to reach the summit” 

“Mountains are not stadiums where I satisfy my ambition to achieve, they are the cathedrals where I practice my religion.”

"Each fresh peak ascended teaches something."

"I love to think of Nature as an unlimited broadcasting station, through 

which God speaks to us every hour, if we only tune in"

“The mountains are calling and I must go.” 

 (and yes, all the photo's are mine :) )

A short text about choices and opportunities

At certain moments in life you come upon a point that you ask yourself “And now what? What’s the next step? What is it that I can do that will take me one step closer to finding my passion, to accomplish great things, to be of most use to the world?”

Sometimes, fortunately, opportunities arise. But, how do you know which opportunity to take? We are incapable of predicting the outcome of our decisions, so how can we guarantee that the choices we make will be the right ones? And; how can you be sure that the opportunity you’re focusing on isn’t a step to high for you to reach? Wouldn’t you be better off aiming for something less ambitious, something that is easier to aim for, that will have a bigger chance of success to start with?

Choices, choices, choices. Maybe I just want too much. Maybe I’m too eager to get started with changing the world, whilst I still have to finish my Bachelor Environmental Science study. Maybe I’m asking too much from myself, being a person who needs time to do things well and to grow. Maybe I’m not born for excellence in the way that I can make a fast career, have a great network, make a big impact on the world at a young age…

That are a lot of maybe’s. Which is basically what life’s all about. Nothing is for sure.

So, at the moment, I’m going after a couple of possible opportunities. They might not work out, they might not lead me to where I want to be. For the coming months, I’m going to try get myself on an expedition to Antarctica, publish a wildlife conservation proposal of the Iberian Wolf, and develop an Environmental Education Program about marine environments and tourism.

Which might perfectly well not work out. Which might be a step too high for me right now. I’m reaching for the stars, but maybe it’s not my time yet.

But I don’t think I will lose anything for the sake of trying to do what I want to do. As I said in my last post, failure is not a bad thing, but rather an opportunity, and that we should all live our lives so that, when we look back, we’ll do so without regrets. 

Fear of failure, and how to live with no regrets

When we are young, we dream of fame, success, great achievements … And often you will believe that you’ll be the one who will make it, because you do everything as perfect as possible to ensure success.

But then life happens, as unpredictable as ever, and events can make our dreams, efforts and goals fall apart. Some people, or even you yourself, will say that “you missed the boat”, “you didn’t try your best” or “weren’t the right person for it”.

Doubt starts to arise. Who am I without my dreams, without my success? Do I deserve to be happy when I’m a failure? How would things have turned out if I had given more of me? How can I overcome this enormous, all-consuming, feeling of defeat?

This negative spiral of doubt, low self-esteem, shame, loss of identity, and even anger towards oneself can lead to depression, isolation, an intense fear of failure, anxiousness and a whole list of other symptoms.

Maybe, at some point, the pain of failure will pass, and you will once again start to chase a new dream and put all your effort, time and money in it. But, in a world where everything is measured in or success, or failure, only too often the outcome will be considered to be a failure, and you will be back at where you started, feeling depressed, lost and despaired at your incapacity to do anything right.

Because we think, that if what we did turned out to be a failure, we ourselves are a failure. Our society teaches us that we’re never good enough, rich enough, smart enough, pretty enough. Our society teaches us to link achievement and success to our personal self worth! We even attach our inner identity of who we truly are with accomplishments, thus when we meet failure in life, we feel deprived of self worth and identity, and see our lives as a series of consecutive failures, in our relationships, in our careers, in our health…

And then, the pressure to succeed becomes so enormous, the risk of failure becomes too great, and we let go of our dreams, for fear of not being able to cope with failure. The thought “better to let go of my dreams then to risk failure” appears.

But here society is wrong. It’s not true that there exists only success and failure. It isn’t black and white. Failure isn’t unacceptable, contrary to what society believes, but rather a necessary path to success. If failure would truly be unacceptable, we wouldn’t even be alive, because the whole essence of nature consists in endless attempts that end in failure, and a couple of successes.

Just to get my point: How would a baby learn to walk, without at least a couple of hundreds of failed attempts? How would the nature have been able to create life, and subsequently all living beings, without endless failed attempts at combining and recombining the building blocks of life? How would technology have advanced and developed without all the failures it has gone through?

The sad thing is that, sometimes we are so focused on archiving success as our ultimate goal, that we forget to enjoy the things we already have, the moment of now, and the whole journey of life. We forget to accept our limitations, we ignore to celebrate our efforts however small, and we will punish ourselves for our so-called failures.

Because, honestly, it’s fine to try just for the sake of trying, it’s fine if a goal isn’t reached or the outcome is unexpected. The most important thing is the effort, not merely the outcome. Remember all the positive things you will gain from failing: important life lessons, deeper knowledge and wisdom, knowing how things should and should not be done, a capacity to love yourself even if society dictates you should hate yourself for failing. Learn to accept, to let go, practice forgiveness and compassion, and be kind to yourself, in whatever situation. And maybe, learn to not see failure in a negative way, but rather as an opportunity, a stepping stone to new heights

Lastly, if you find your true calling, your passion, your dream; listen to it, and follow that what makes you feel most alive. Deep inside you, you know what to do, but fear of failing is often in the way, as are the people who advise you to not pursue your dream, in fear of you getting hurt, or in envy of you being brave enough to follow your dreams. Do what you’re here for to do, so you will live with no regrets. Because, one of the deepest regrets people have when they die is having not done what they wanted most, not having followed their dreams, and not having lived truly. 

Here is a very inspiring video that gave me the idea to write about this today; 

And a few quotes that might make you think ;)

The National Day of Mourning - Choosing for a Non-violence attitude.

Today is the National Day of Mourning in the Netherlands. A day for all to stand still and think about all the victims of the plane crash last Thursday, 17^th of July. A day to think about how fragile and valuable life is, and to give support to those who are now mourning their lost loved ones.

But then I watch the television, and I feel sort of uncomfortable…It’s alright to proclaim today as a National Day of Mourning, but…to me it seems as if many people, who have no relation whatsoever with the victims, let themselves be led by the enormous sadness, grief and suffering 200 Dutch families are passing through. It’s like a collective form of mass hysteria (that’s how I would call, it, although I know it’s not right). The media is constantly only broadcasting news about the plane crash, about how horrible it is, how sad, about basically everything that has anything to do with it. It makes me feel sick, because that’s just the media exploiting a tragic event. It makes me feel uncomfortable, because so many people go along with something that is indeed tragic, but - in short- none of their business.

Because all those Dutch people, oh, how they mourn collectively. How they sympathize. And that’s it. Then life goes on, as many say.

But I don’t see it that way. Instead of collective mourning, people should think deeper, profounder (however comforting this might be for some, because I know it also has its good sides). They should think about why this happened. Don’t understand me wrongly: not how. Why did this happen?.

It is sad, no, infinitely more than sad, that we live in a world where violence is still one of humans most common attitudes. Already in the 70’s, in the time of the hippies, people dreamt of a better world, worldwide peace, stopping discrimination, equal rights, etc. But nooo. We’re still going the way we were, which is, in short, letting ourselves be guided by our ego and our primitive impulses, fighting with other humans for power, territory, riches…

Don’t we ever learn from the past? Obviously not. We aren’t capable of long term thinking, and even less capable of thinking in any other time that besides our own lifespan.  The consequence of this is that we forget the horrors of violence, war, and whatever kind of human attitude that only exists to satisfy ones ego. This means that conflicts and wars will continue emerging around the world.

I’m writing this based on the events of the airplane crash MH-17 in Ukraine. A plane with almost 300 passengers on board, probably shot down by Russian separatists in Ukraine because they thought it was a Ukrainian airplane. An act of pure violence, that will affect the lives of 300 families forever, families who never had anything to do with the Russian-Ukrainian conflict.

Because, listen well: Wars and conflicts rarely cause victims who are directly implicated, but rather almost always affect people who have nothing to do with it. This way, the wave of violence expands, because they will always want an eye for an eye (and thus, the world goes blind).

What conflict between people can be so extreme that people end up killing others? And…have they never stopped to think in the immense amount of suffering they cause because they are persuading their ego?

It’s unbelievable. But we never learn from the past. People always focus on the differences between other humans. Differences in opinion, beliefs, skin color, culture…But, aren’t there more things that unite us then things that separate us? Aren’t we all human? Aren’t we all capable of loving, compassion, empathy, understanding when we are born? Why focus so much on what separates us as humans? Instead we should accept those differences and rejoice, because those differences makes each of us unique, precious, valuable!

Be different, and make sure you do learn from the errors others commit. Make sure that you will end up seeing violence as the most harming and useless attitude a human is capable of. Violence is useless, it only causes suffering. A war never has winners, only losers. Everyone loses once they are implicated in acts of violence. Do you want to be part of the violent attitude? Or will you choose for no violence, tolerance, compassion, respect? It’s your decision, but you must know that, although you’re only one person, your actions will affect the world. You, and only you, are capable of deciding what footprint to leave behind on this world.

For me it’s clear. I say NO to violence, at all the possible levels (yes, think about that, it’s a lot harder then you’d think at first notice). I say NO to suffering. And I know that, with this life-attitude, I will make a difference in the world, no matter how little. 

Live, and have no regrets

Months ago I wrote about losing my dear animal friend. How fast time goes by. There are days, when I’m too busy keeping my head up with studying and work, when I don’t think about him. But on other days, like today, he keeps coming into my mind. How much I miss him, the simple things, like running together through the bushes, his happy barks, his intelligent sparkling eyes.

Losing a loved one, whether it’s a person or an animal, is hard. And for everyone the grieving process is different. This is something important to remember, something that is often overlooked, but has to be respected.

So what I have learnt, felt, and thought, is subjective, it’s my story. But it is about something that unites all of us; life, and death. Without death, we wouldn’t be able to rejoice life. Without death, we wouldn’t be alive. Life and death are both antagonistic and complementary, both being part of our reality. Some might not like those ideas, but to me there is a certain beauty in this, in the essence of our existence. One of the lessons learnt from losing a loved one might thus be:

Live. Live every day, and make sure that when you look behind, you have no regrets. Live and be happy, grateful, that you may share your life with others. Our loved ones might leave us one day, but every single day by their side is precious, a blessing, and a reason to be happy. Death is inevitable, and I’m not subestimating the devastation it can bring to a persons life. But I am saying that we should all live more, in the here and now, and enjoy our lives and that of others.

And even when our loved ones are gone, they can still be an inspiration for wisdom and insights. From Casper, my animal friend, I learnt after his death to never, ever, undervalue life. Don’t throw it away, don’t get lost in unimportant matters. Live. Be. Love.  Yes, he was a dog, and not all people can imagine that a dog has been so important to me, but he has inspired me. He was a living being who with all his soul lived truly and freely. He showed me, with his death, to not waste my life.

To me, losing someone you love should make you value life more, not forsake it, throw it away, ignore it. Yes, I understand mourning, I understand grief, but at some point you have to embrace all the good. All those beautiful memories together, all the love and friendship. Don’t let grief shut out all those good things.

I’m still sad. Some days more than others. But that’s part of life. Even sadness should be seen as something good, although often people think it’s bad… Being sad about losing my dear animal friend means I’m alive, it means I cared about him. It means that whatever friendship we had, it was deep, strong, beautiful. A friendship between two species, that to me was so natural that I never once questioned it.

And what happens after death? I do not know the answers to that great mystery. All I know is that flowers now emerge from his beautiful last resting place, and that his soul roams freely, ever happy, loving and full of enthusiasm.

After all, death is just the next great adventure. 

Happy New Year/ Feliz Año Nuevo!!

Another year has passed. How fast time goes. And at the same time, how slow.

It has been a year of happiness, and grief. A year of personal accomplishments, and a year of losing my dear animal friend. It has been a year of travelling far away and near, both full of adventures and thrill. It has been a year of studying hard, working hard, and doing my best to be the best person I can be. I have tried to grow as a person, unravel my weaknesses and shaping them into strengths. In 2013 it was the first time I graded cum laude for a subject, that I donated money I had earned by myself to help abandoned dogs. The first time I lived like an adventurer for 10 days in a van travelling through the Pyrenees.

A year is never full of only good, or only bad experiences. Life isn’t like that. Life is…difficult, but not in the way most people believe it is. Life is difficult in the sense that, if you want to grow as a person and be the best possible you, you’ll have to work hard. Being tolerant, respectful, honest, loving, is not always easy. There are moments that you lose yourself on the road of life, due to stress, grief, or general feeling down.  There are moments when you know you’re not respectful toward yourself, or when someone tells you to change this or that, but have no idea how, because no one has ever told you how to be brilliant, loving, peaceful, harmonious, self-confident.

Because that is my goal for each year: To be a better person than the year before. A better person for me, in the first place, and for the world, in the second place. My goals are not to gain more material things, but rather to enrich my inner world. A goal, I believe without wanting to offend anyone, is one all should try to pursue. So instead of attempting to make resolutions for the New Year about that you will quit smoking, drinking too much, eating too much, spending too much money, why don’t you try this:

This year, you will try to be you. Yes. You. Only, and absolutely uniquely and sincerely you. You will learn to listen to your body and instinct, and find out that you are a beautiful human being who deserves to be loved, cherished and respected… by yourself, in first place, because that is what makes all the difference between being happy or not.  You will learn that, whatever you do, people will always criticize you, so the only thing you need to do is love your own decisions, not that others love your decisions. You will grow independent of others in the way that you don’t need their love to be able to love yourself, but at the same time you’ll become closer to people because you are able of loving yourself. 

This year, you will break up with routine, and start challenging yourself. Challenge yourself to be a better person to yourself, because; if you don’t treat yourself lovingly and with respect, who will?

And, like a raindrop in a lake, your actions will ripple across the surface, affecting lives of others more than you can imagine.

Now, the question for this New Year is: will you affect the lives of others in a positive, or in a negative way? It’s all up to you.

My new year’s resolution is thus: working on myself to become a better person, in order to change the world. Because you can attempt all your life to change the world, but if you don’t change, neither will the world. 

Thank you

Ha pasado otro año. Que rápido va el tiempo. Y al mismo tiempo, que lento.

Ha sido un año de felicidad y tristeza. Un año de logros personales, y un año de perder a mi querido amigo animal. Ha sido un año de viajar a sitios muy lejanos y a sitios cercanos, ambos llenos de aventuras e ilusión. Ha sido un año de estudiar mucho, trabajar mucho y dar todo de mí para ser la mejor persona que puedo ser. He intentado crecer como persona, desentrañar mis debilidades y convertirles en fortalezas. En 2013 fue la primera vez que saque una matrícula de honor para una asignatura, la primera vez que doné dinero que había ganado yo misma para ayudar a los perros abandonados. La primera vez que vivía como una aventurera durante 10 días en una furgoneta viajando a través de los Pirineos.

Un año nunca está lleno de experiencias que son sólo buenos o sólo malos. La vida no es así. La vida es... difícil, pero no de la manera que la mayoría de la gente cree que es. La vida es difícil en el sentido de que, si quieres crecer como persona y ser el mejor posible tu, tendrás que trabajar duro. Ser tolerante, respetuoso, honesto, amoroso, no siempre es fácil. Hay momentos que te pierdes en el camino de la vida, debido al estrés, tristeza o una sensación general de desánimos. Hay momentos en los que sabes que no eres respetuoso hacia ti mismo, o cuando alguien te dice que tienes que cambiar esto o aquello de tu mismo, pero no tienes idea de cómo, porque nadie te ha enseñado cómo ser brillante, amoroso, pacífico, armonioso, con confianza en uno mismo.

Porque ese es mi objetivo para cada año: lograr ser una persona mejor que el año anterior. Una persona mejor para mí, en primer lugar, y para el mundo, en segundo lugar. Mis metas no son ganar más cosas materiales, sino más bien  enriquecer mi mundo interior. Una meta que creo, sin querer ofender a nadie, es una todos debemos intentar alcanzar. Así que, en lugar de hacer resoluciones para el Año Nuevo sobre que vas a dejar de fumar, dejar de beber demasiado, comer demasiado, gastar demasiado dinero, ¿por qué no pruebas lo siguiente?:

Este año, intentaras ser tú. Sí. Tú. Sólo, y absolutamente única y sinceramente tú. Aprenderás a escuchar a tu cuerpo y tu instinto, y sabrás que eres un hermoso ser humano que merece ser amado, apreciado y respetado ... por ti mismo, en primer lugar, porque eso es lo que hace la diferencia entre ser feliz o no . Aprenderás que, hagas lo que hagas, la gente siempre te criticarán, así que lo único que tienes que hacer es amar a tus propias decisiones, no que otros aman tus decisiones. Te harás independiente de los demás en la manera que ya no necesitas su amor para ser capaz de amarte a ti mismo, pero, a la vez, te sentirás más cercano a la gente, ya que serás capaz de amarte a ti mismo.

Este año, romperás con la rutina y empezaras a desafiarte a ti mismo. Aceptaras el reto de ser una mejor persona para ti mismo, porque, si no te tratas a ti mismo con amor y con respeto, ¿quién lo hará?

Y, como una gota de agua en un lago, tus acciones se propagarán por la superficie, afectando la vida de los demás más de lo que podrás imaginar.

Ahora, la pregunta para este nuevo año es: ¿afectaras a las vidas de los demás de una manera positiva o de manera negativa? Todo depende de ti.

Mi resolución de año nuevo es, por tanto: intentar ser una mejor persona, con el fin de cambiar el mundo. Puedes intentar toda tu vida cambiar el mundo, pero si no cambias, tampoco lo hará el mundo.

Gracias