Just like riding a bike...

Finding resilience from stories within

I remember as a kid in the primary school playground sitting on my bicycle scooting with both feet on the ground rather than on the pedals, this was the only way that I could stabilize myself. Yes I did wish I was pedaling away like all the other kids who seemed to take to their bicycles like ducks to water, but I truly believed that through visualisation I’d get the result I wanted and indeed by the age of 12 this kid (me) with cerebral palsy was pedaling along with and just like all the other kids.

Within us all live stories of resilience, things that prove that we all have the ability to overcome the perceived “impossible”. I hear from, and of, people who want to forget their challenging times, but don’t underestimate the strength that comes from those challenges, and that we can use this, use us, use our own experiences to find strength to achieve anything.

When I decided to launch my speaking business I dove head first into the most competitive market for a speaker, a place full of new challenges, the USA, and more fiercely… New York City. I didn't know how long it would take to gain momentum from this but just like the experience of learning to ride a bike, success is a result of what we see within our minds.

In 2018 I (the guy who talks funny) delivered 145 keynotes throughout New Zealand, Australia, Singapore, Europe, America and Canada, and my externally perceived weakness of ‘speaking’ has found its strong place in the world. Along the way there’s been a lot of rejection (different forms of falling, grazing the knees, wanting to give up, doubting ability… all what I went through when learning to ride a bike) but just like learning to ride a bike there’s something awesome about turning rejection into affection and we get there through:

• Having a dream: visualising what is possible and not letting perceived “weakness” get in the way.

• Taking a risk: sometimes we have to push and take our feet off the ground but it’s through taking risks that we learn, develop and enhance life.

• Communication: when we hear someones story we bend perception and eliminate assumption, much is the same when we share our own stories.

We all have stories with universal messages that can see us creating and / or contributing towards the most awesome life. If we’ve not yet got the story it’s because we’ve not yet had the experience, so keep pushing life much as you can to develop your stories, it’s there that you’ll become your greatest inspiration and that’s AWESOME!


By: , Bending Perceptions, Inspiring Change
cam@camcalkoen.com

Issue 99 June 2019