Somebody once said “Surround yourself with people who are going to motivate and inspire you”. And why on earth would you not want to do it? I was lucky enough to spend a few hours with some unbelievably inspiring women the other week. I can’t wait to meet them again – either on another walking trip or perhaps time for some Prosecco?

Last week I had an amazing opportunity to do my first walk with 2 sensational women who achieved so much in their lives. As I was breaking my new boots in, the seasoned walkers Colette and Jane, had decided to make it easy for me so we set out to walk only half (10 miles) of the Guild Wheel (a circular route round Preston) . We walked non stop for 3 hours and I never got bored or flagged behind. The stories and experiences that Colette and Jane were sharing were not only entertaining but very motivating. I need to share some of them before they come out in a book as I suggested at some stage!

 

Let’s start with the lady on the left, Colette. She is no stranger to any sort of physical or mental challenge. She is a wonderful person inside and outside, that sort that you click with straightaway. Colette was a finger print expert at Lancashire Constabulary (what a fantastic job!) before she left to become a full time mum. Now, you won’t believe where she has been… It all started with cycling 250 miles in Cuba with Fern Britton and organised by This Morning. She then went on cycling from Paris to Blackpool and across Cambodia and Vietnam in aid of Genesis Research Trust which Fern is a patron. After this she managed to cross another achievement off her bucket list when she climbed the Kilimanjaro. She was lucky enough to enjoy the clear views from the top which I can imagine were breathtaking.

But it does not stop there! I guess it is like catching a bug, you are just hungry for more. Colette wanted to do something special for her 50th birthday. Do something for people who don’t have much but are happy to share whatever they have with everybody anyway. She flew out to Nepal to do voluntary work at a local school. She was overwhelmed by hospitality and friendliness of everybody there despite them experiencing a devastating earthquake a year before. Her 50th birthday was marked by “Happy Birthday” sang by everybody at school, presents cards, cakes and just overall happiness emulating from everybody there. But the most memorable and at the same terrifying moment was when Colette was out celebrating her birthday and the earth shook with another quake! What’s next for Colette? The Everest Basecamp in November. Good luck my lovely friend!

Now Jane has achieved more then I have in my life so far! She has diligently planned her cycle trip from Land’s End to John O’Groats and cycled it on her own! That’s around 800 miles, if not more, and 3 weeks of cycling up the country on a very demanding terrain. Again, similarly to Colette, the journey does not stop on this “little” challenge. The next challenge might be cycling in Vietnam and also introducing one of her daughters to the bug of cycling.

There is a big push out there at the moment, especially on all the social media (blogs,twitter, snapchat, etc) to motivate, empower and promote confidence in people. There are so many people there who have achieved and done so much themselves that just listening to their stories or looking at their pictures makes you want to go out into the world and do something yourself or like in my case gives you even more fire to go and complete my challenge.

If you want to to listen to Colette and Jane’s stories, they have recently done an interview on That’s Manchester TV talking about their amazing achievements. Please watch it as they have some inspiring stories to tell that just might make you do something for yourself or for benefit of other people. And it is an amazing feeling!

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