Making a global positive impact – and having fun with it!
MAD inspiration
We often think that our dreams are beyond our reach. We feel that what we wish to do is impossible. We give up when obstacles seem too many. But impossible IS nothing!
This page is for you if you have a dream but lack the courage to go after it. Below in the comment section you can read the stories of amazing people who have faced extreme limitations and overcame them. These are human beings – just like you! It means that you also CAN accomplish anything you set your mind to! We hope that their stories will inspire you to live your own dreams!
Do you also have an inspiring story to share? Let us know! Share the inspiration!
Share the MADness!!!
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I was lucky enough to see Arlynn’s blog on my own dashboard – and it kept me up the whole night! She is an amazing, gorgeous, funny and courageous individual who faced her greatest fears and had the time of her life as a result
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Arlynn, I am truly honored you have agreed to share your story here on my humble project’s page. I admire you for your current focus on helping others with agoraphobia to take control of their lives this year. You are an amazing example of “impossible is nothing” and I’d try my very best to come visit you one day and give you a hug for the amount of inspiration I have gotten from your story!
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My dream: To drive around the world in the completely unsuitable car. We took a twenty year old Black Cab and drove it 40,000 miles, first, from London to Sydney, then across to USA, then finally back from Israel to London, breaking a World Record for the longest ever taxi journey.
My challenges: Spending long hours in a dirty, noisy, smelly and boiling metal box in some of the harshest environments of the planet with two other guys was easy compared to the problems with the car. Almost every few days something else broke on the car, including the brakes, suspension, electrics, steering, fuel system, heating and meter. We learned a lot about mechanics but even more about ourselves.
My GO MAD tip/s: Believe in yourself and you will achieve your goals! Along your journey you will experience great times, meet amazing people and see things you’ll never forget. However, remember that there will be bad times – you will be stressed, tired, cold, hungry and uncomfortable… but these low points will make the high points that much higher! Never forget your goal and if things aren’t going your way then don’t lose sight of why you started in the first place.
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I remember how reading about you on CS before you set off on your journey made me go “Wow! Can this even be done?” – and here you are, wrapping up your incredible adventure! Your idea was definitely one of the crucial tangential influences in our own project
. It is also, indeed, very important not to idealize the journey ahead and to be ready for the ‘bad days’. They’re all worth it though!
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My dream: I had several. Main ones were to become independent in every way, financial, emotional and spiritual. Later, my dream was of becoming a professional dancer.
My challenges: Where do I start… I was born to poor Chinese immigrants to the Netherlands in a violent neighborhood. On top of that I had a bone disease (Osteogenesis Imperfecta known as brittle bone disease, or Lobstein syndrome), which caused me being to be physically weaker and smaller. I got bullied and suffered from low self esteem. So I spend all my spare time mastering Asian Martial arts, becoming a 3 times champion for my region in Nunchaku-Do and training Wing Tsun Kung Fu under renown grandmasters at home and in Hong Kong. Needles to say, I was able to defend myself from the bullies.
My second challenge was emotional. I suffered a terrible heartbreak upon separating from my first love – to the point of being suicidal for nearly 9 months. A chance encounter with social dance turned my fate around – I started taking Lamba-Zouk partner dance classes and became one of the top dancers within 3 years, despite most girls being much taller than me. I already learned to cope with tall people during close combat martial arts training, and I could use the same principles and techniques for destroying an opponent to creating with the partner instead.
My third challenge was getting expelled in 2007 from the school for fine arts of Amsterdam because my teachers were convinced that I did not have the talent or the capacity to become a professional dancer. My martial art training, however, taught me to never give up, so I found my own path to success.
I have recently founded Kwok One Dance Company and currently offer dance master classes all over the world, integrating techniques and principles of NLP, Koan and Zen Budism into dance exercises, as a way to teach people how to use life improvement philosophies, at the same time ensuring my financial success. I am also currently one of the main characters in an upcoming documentary about the Zouk dance – the dance that saved (and changed) my life.
My GO MAD tips: My secret to success, can be summed up by a Chinese Lao Tze quote: “do something little every day and you can move a mountain”.
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I am lucky to know Kwok from the Lamba-Zouk scene – not only is he an incredible dancer, but he is a living example of what hard work and dedication can do: the seemingly impossible! I hope we remain good friends and keep sharing the much needed motivation for everything we do. Oh, and his masterclasses are an amazing experience for anyone – you don’t have to be a dancer at all to get an incredible momentum and inspiration from them!
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my dream was to meet each and every one of my facebook friends–and at the time i started on january 2011, i had 325 friends, including one dog, one cat, and one man who had been dead since 1838 (long story). tracking down each friend, traveling to whatever country they live in, making time to understand each other and how are lives are outside the time we spend on the computer–it was a 365 day mad dash but it was heavenly!
my challenges were many: money, time, and fear. the first two always seem like they’d be the worst, but those solved themselves. what was most daunting was fear–i’m the kind of agoraphobic who would have been called reclusive or shy. every day, i had to make myself get back up on the horse and try. . . although of course there were days that were disasters! but i traveled to thirteen countries, fifty four flights, nearly every state in the united states, and ended up the year with a respectable ninety percent!
my GO MAD tip — aim high because if what you want to do doesn’t at first look to be impossible then you’re not aiming high enough! and understand that there will be early cheerleaders and there will be those who will wait for you at the finish line but the real friends you need are the ones who have your back from start to finish! those are your greatest treasures!