life coach to myself

People ask me how my holiday in Borneo went. I keep saying, hesitantly, “challenging”. It’s everything I thought I would never tolerate – no own room, sharing toilets, sticky and dirt…It was good in the sense that I realised I could do what I didn’t think I could. If I don’t think of it as a holiday, but as a test of my tolerance and limits, a sense of accomplishment ensues. While coming down from Mt Kinabalu, my legs were wobblier than Jello! In the end, I was partly carried off the mountain, oh the shame! On the hike from Camp 5 to Mulu, there were so many times I just wanted to stop and give up. I knew that there was no choice but to keep going. There were days that were dripping humidity. Yet I still had to slap on layers of sunscreen and insect repellent making my already sticky skin gooey- stickier! The obvious question would be, “why am I doing this”. A calm deep voice replies, “you chose it”. Who can I blame? Who is going to pity me, when I choose a holiday of torture? May be that is why I was so determined to reframe it as a challenge and come out happy with my choice. I suppose it made me think again that there are times when we need help and then there are times when we just have to persevere on. I sometimes wonder what I have missed out on, by giving up, because I thought I couldn’t. At the same time, I wondered if I persist in certain things when I should have acknowledged that it was beyond me. Although it did occur to me that the times when I had help, if I was given enough time, I would eventually get there. So may be, if I want something, keeping at it, would get me there. So what is it that makes me give up? The other girl on the tour is a policewoman. She is like fitness reincarnated! I suppose in seeing her, I thought “I should get there by now, she did!” Not accounting for the fact that she is taller, better prepared and used to this type of adventure than myself. The lesson, therefore, may be that if I set myself a goal, keep my eyes on it. That entails not looking at other people on the track but keeping the finish line in sight. Naturally, I am thinking of exams. I might well take longer than some to pass the exam (and to be fair, there are many who are taking much longer than me), but if that is what I want, I need to persevere. The end will be in sight. This reads like a life coach motivating spiel huh! Oh well, I can be my own life coach then  Alright, off to the … haa haa…and comedy festival 