I am sat on the Great Western Railway travelling from Bristol to Penzance. This morning I set off from Snowdon, having climbed with a group of friends the day before!
I wasn't nervous about the climb, despite it being one of the worst summer days I've ever experienced! We left at 4am and set off when all 17 of us were present and correct!
It was a challenging climb given the weather conditions and for some it was a real physical struggle. After a few hours we made it to the top! The sense of closeness we shared, having worked as a team, was tangible!
This morning, after a restless sleep, we set off at 8am to drop me at Birmingham train station. On the way I received a message to say the train was cancelled....I was stressed! Trying desperately to find alternative routes to meet my family in Cornwall. My sister is over from Australia and I am desperate to see her again.
Luckily I got to Birmingham and everyone was really helpful. Even the young lady who served me my cup of tea was friendly. By the time it came to board my train, previous delays meant the train was overcrowded and my seat had been double booked! Deflated and tired, I stood by my bag of winter clothes in the aisle. A lady who helped me navigate the rail line website was hungry and thirsty. There was no food or drink being served due to the overcrowding! I offered her a toffee and we started to chat! We talked about parenting, our kids, our weekend. A guy who had stayed at his sister's house joined in the conversation. Eventually I got a seat next to a lady who had been up since 4am and was tired from looking after 3 kids and working. After that journey, I started my final leg from Bristol. I am now looking out over our beautiful British countryside full of gratitude for the place that I call home and the wonderful people within it!
I would not have enjoyed this soul nurturing journey if I hadn't said yes to the climb, nor would I be left with this warm fuzzy feeling if I'd kept my head down and been in a funk about the slight inconvenience I experienced!
For a long time now I've stayed away from the news, from politics, from shit social media. I've sought and found positive experiences from pushing myself out of my comfort zone, buoyed by the notion that most people are kind, generous souls that will look after me if things don't quite go according to plan and today just proved to me that life is not what happens to you, it's what you make of it!
So if you are reading this while contemplating trying something new. I say go for it! The chances are, even if the thing you hope to do doesn't go according to plan, the experience will open your eyes to wonders you were not anticipating.
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