Follow Your Dreams (don't wait till it's too late)

I vividly recall the moment things changed for me.

It was early 2016, and I was sitting in a conference hall full of stuffy corporate executives and anally retentive business owners listening to Lewis Pugh explain what it takes to swim across the North Pole.

I think he is mad.

He had three major “take homes” for us, namely that climate change is real thing, be brave and ask for help as people want to help you, and that you should follow your dreams.

Now I do not need to be convinced by his histrionics to the veracity of the existence of climate change. Denialists are just dumb. With over seven and a half billion people polluting the atmosphere, throwing away plastic into landfills and not recycling, investing in firms that do not subscribe to best environmental practices, poisoning vital water sources, over fishing and generally not caring about the planet, something has to give. It’s just common sense.

We do however differ significantly on the fallout that our inability to change our behavior and course correct over the next 10 years will cause.

You see, the earth is an inanimate object, a ball of dirt floating in the vacuum of space around a star that provides warmth and energy. It has no soul, it has no morality, it does not love or hate. It does not care who was here first, it does not appreciate complex emotions or cry when listening to beautiful poetry. It does not identify with the struggles of mankind or feel sadness when contemplating its future.

It just is.

The earth has been scarred a million times by a million asteroid strikes. It has seen life struggle to take hold, only to be beaten back to the brink, and then struggle to thrive once again. It has witnessed untold mass extinction events, where apex species on the brink of evolving higher brain function and self-awareness are simply and efficiently wiped from existence.

It never shed a tear because it cannot cry.

Humans crossed the threshold, surviving long enough between these catastrophic apocalypses to become fully aware of our place in the universe, to understand the tenuousness and the non-permanence of our short life spans, and to develop the complex set of emotions that allow us to value and appreciate social constructs, art, structure and love.

Just like the early philosophers, religious leaders and scientists who thought the earth was the centre of the universe and everything revolved around us, we continue to perpetuate this error believing that we are cosmically preordained to survive and thrive and not just a cruel mistake of the chaos of evolution in a far off corner of a random galaxy.

No matter what we do to the earth, no matter how much plastic we produce, no matter how much carbon we spew into the atmosphere, no matter how much nuclear waste we create, no matter how many glaciers we melt, no matter how many toxins we let loose. It doesn’t matter.

The earth doesn’t care.

The only thing that’s certain is that we will hasten the fall of mankind, our time as the apex species of this planet will be over, for the first time as a direct result of the premeditated actions of the organism itself and not a comet, asteroid, mega volcano or ice age.

Within 50000 years of us vacating this 3^rd rock from the sun, it will self-correct, scrub all traces of our existence from its surface and wait for the next apex species to see if they can get it right. To find out if our successor can climb the evolutionary ladder, become self-aware and capable of complex thought and emotions, without the psychotic self-righteous self-destructive tendencies of the homo-sapiens that came before.

I believe that by recognizing climate change and committing to a new course of a cleaner and greener future, we are not in fact saving the planet, it really doesn’t need saving. Instead we are saving ourselves. It’s a selfish and far less noble ideal than Mr Pugh’s polar bears and whales, but perhaps a perspective that may get a few more people off their asses before it’s too late.

The second take home of being brave enough to ask for things became quite apparent when I asked for help to achieve my dream, but we will come back to that later.

But what really struck home was his insistence that if you are stuck in a dead end job, a boringly familiar life with no prospect of finding your mojo or real place in this world, then just make a change. Decide to follow a dream, extract yourself from the mundane and predictable and remove yourself from your comfort zone, and go for it.

Before Mr Pugh had characteristically exited stage left to a round of civilized applause and much head scratching and reflection from a wildly conservative and pessimistic crowd, I had messaged my wife with a short phrase: “Washie2016”.

Inspired to convert dreams to action, I needed to change much about my lifestyle and family relationships to start this new journey.

More than anything, it begins with a serious bout of soul searching, identifying the weaknesses in your personality and psychological makeup, staring at them head on, digesting and mulling them over and then deciding how to deal with them.

I have encountered numerous personal obstacles in fulfilling some of my dreams, sometimes needing painful self-reflection, resulting course correcting behavior. It’s hard to admit you are wrong about even the smallest things, let alone ideas that create upheaval in core belief structures. But it gets easier with practice.

And with discovery comes learning:

“If you have never failed at anything, you have not challenged yourself enough.”

“Face your fear. Look it in the eye, internalize it and turn the adrenaline from your fear into power.”

“Never say never.”

I have learned that if I head in the right direction, I will get to my goal no matter how long it takes, as long as I don’t give up. I have learned that I am tougher than I think I am. And I have learned that my mind is stronger than my body, and as long as I believe then my broken body can keep going.

I failed to finish Washie 2016, I bailed at 100km.

Perhaps it’s just my newfound desire to worship at the altar of optimism that leads me to believe that I learned more in this failure than in all my successes before it, but the lessons were many and diverse.

The following year I put my newly acquired knowledge into practice and accomplished my dream of finishing my first 100 mile race.

Going back to asking for help, nothing has humbled me more than the ideal of the Washie itself. There is no question that it’s a team race, seconds making or breaking your run. I have started the race three times, and three times I have had colleagues, friends and fellow runners answer my call to selflessly give up a weekend, travelling to a small town in the freezing cold of winter, to drag my fat ass 160km to the finish 24 hours later.

Be brave and ask for help when you need it, and you will be surprised at who will hold up their hand to answer your call and give without expecting a return.

Perhaps humanity is not doomed after all.

Lewis Pugh is immensely inspiring in both his personal achievements and the lofty goals he aspires to accomplish. Climate change is the most critical emergency facing mankind in all of history making Pugh possibly one of the most important people on earth. I highly encourage people engage him and follow him on Facebook and in other forms of social media.

It’s a bit of a joke that we watch the skies,  worried about another Mass Extinction Event like a comet or asteroid strike, when the reality is that we will never live long enough to see the next one, the enemy lies within.

We can save ourselves, but you need to start today.

And juxtaposed with that rather drab and depressing outlook on humanity comes the realization that life is short, so be the beacon of change you want to see in others and don’t wait to follow your dreams.

Set some lofty goals and go out there and get them.