”The meaning of life is to find your gift. The purpose of life is to give it away.”
- Pablo Picasso
I started speaking, giving talks, a few years ago. Nervous I stood there not sure about what people would think about what I had to say. I had 2 more years of preparation before I was embarking on the adventure of a lifetime, climbing to the top Mt. Everest. As I stood on that stage presenting my wildest dreams, not knowing if I would ever actually achieve it or not, I learned some important lessons. First, sharing your big ass dreams is scary but necessary. It slowly transfers what you have in your mind to reality and it will hold you accountable for those promises that you’ve given to yourself. When those days come, and they will come, when you get scared and second guess every choice that you’ve made and you’re scared that you don’t have the ability to make it… You’ll be more scared to take back that promise that you’ve made and that fear will trump whatever brain ghosts that you’re hosting in your mind at the moment and push you to take another step.
Secondly, ”it’s not about you”. That’s what I told myself when I felt insecure, and slightly embarrassed to be honest, to talk about my life in public events. When thoughts like ”Who do you think you are?”, ”What right do you have to speak about this?” and ”You haven’t even climbed this mountain yet, should you even be here?” started to batter my mind I slowly started to realize that it’s not about me. It’s about the story. It’s about sharing what this particular journey has taught, given and shown to be meaningful. About the people, places, cultures and adventures that’s there for everyone to experience. And if it has given me joy, insights and a bundle full of keys to use, why not pass that on to people around me as a way of helping other doors unlock. I’ve been filled with gratitude when I’ve met people who unconditionally have shared their abilities, stories, experiences and knowledge with me. People who have given me a bag full of humility and fuck up’s saying ”here you go, hope you can learn from my story!”. I’ve appreciated that so many times in my life so why shouldn’t I want to do the same? When I’ve gotten off the stage and people have approached me, or sent me an e-mail a few hours later, saying ”Something clicked in me when you shared that.” it hits me. Sharing your truth always holds a meaning and you’ll never be enlightened enough to foresee to whom or in which way it can contribute. All you can do is to be brave enough to share. The more I speak and the more clicks that I encounter, the passion that I have for life and people grows infinitely. It’s through sharing that I’ve gotten to experience hundreds of interpretations of my story, learning over and over again all the different ways that we can help each other navigate through this thing called life. Basically I love speaking to you because it is a way of sharing whatever gifts I’ve gotten in my life. It’s a way of giving the story purpose to someone else but me, and giving away those gifts to people who might benefit from them. At least, so I hope.