After 3 years and 8 months.... at the end of June 2007 I finally became debt free having paid off all the debt that I had incurred with the business that totalled over £100k with interest. Every day for the last 3 years and 8 months I had looked at my 'debt' spreadsheets waiting for the day when I would finally break free of the burden of debt.... for so long I had looked forward to that day, yet the reality was it was a big anti-climax. I had been through a miserable, lonely, depressed few years paying off as much money as possible each month feeling like a prisoner to life... but now I no longer had to back any money I still felt an emptiness and found it difficult to look forward with optimism.
For several months prior to June 2007 I had thought about writing a book and to somehow try to make sense of everything that had happened.... and if possible try to turn this huge negative period of my life into something more positive. During June and July I did write a book.... about 80,000 words and I called it 'The Joy of Debt'.... I looked back at the business I had set up, the decision to pull out, the depression, the effect on my confidence and self-esteem, the effect on friendships, relationships, my view of money... and importantly what I wanted to do with the rest of my life.
As I wrote and recalled the experiences of the Las Vegas and Toronto marathons I realised how beneficial they had been to me during some very low times. Although they were incredibly painful and I didn't really get the results I was looking for, I did realise that they were positive experiences and I had achieved something special. They had given me a focus, they had shown me that I was a fighter and was strong, they had allowed me to visit two fantastic cities and I had raised money to help others in some way. I also realised that many people go through very low periods in their life for all kinds of reasons, yet many will have never turned to exercise and challenges to help them do something positive and therefore would not be aware of the benefits. Also I realised just how difficult it can be for many people to find the motivation to get active and train for something when feeling very low.
I started to think how great it would be to set something up that encouraged people who had their own difficulties and problems to deal with to get involved in some kind of physical exercise and challenge. To help motivate them, give them a focus and allow them that sense of achievement and overall positive experience. I thought how there must be literally millions of people who feel like they have a huge personal mountain to climb... and for many it would be really beneficial if they got involved in some kind of physical challenge. The more I thought about it the more enthusiastic I got and I felt the 'old spark' come back to me.... as I started detailing what I wanted to do. I also asked myself a question in the book that was if money didn't matter or if I won the Lottery what would I want to do with my life? I now had the answer.... I was going to set up a charity called 'Climb Your Mountain' to help anyone going through a difficult period in their life and help them to complete a physical challenge!
So, if it wasn't for me running the previous marathons..... CYM would never have been set up!
No comments:
Post a Comment