For everyone who tells you that you can't do something‘

When I told a number of people in my immediate surroundings that I wanted to participate in Expedition Robinson 2017 (read here why), two groups emerged. The ‘Go get them, tiger’ team and the ‘Look, but is that really something for you?’ team. “Without heels and eyeliner? You sleep on the ground, right? And do your business in a hole in the ground without toilet paper. I honestly don't see you doing that…”

Ultimately, there are two ways to motivate someone. You tell
someone that he/she can do something (think of Obama's “YES. WE. CAN”), or you take the pessimistic opposite. It depends on how you view life how you react to the second situation. Either you become insecure, or combative. I
have often heard from all sides in my life that something ‘couldn't’ be done, and the more I heard it, the more a kind of primal force arose in me to be able to do something.

‘Of course I can do it.
I'll show you’

Back to when I was about ten years old. My dearest rabbit Nijntje (coming up with original names has never been my strong suit) got a shot at the vet and not long after, she went stiff and lifeless in a pet carrier on the way home. We wanted to bury her at home. In the freezing cold in January. While the ground was of course rock hard. My mother and I were struggling with a big shovel in minus 3.

It turned out that precisely at the spot we had carefully chosen to ‘place’ Nijntje (because further down there was already a dog and to the left there was already a guinea pig) there were also a few troublesome tree roots. Long story short: it wasn't going well and after half an hour of cursing at the shovel, my mother said somewhat desperately to me: “Kiki, maybe we should think of something else. This can't be done.” The words echoed in my head for a moment. But this had to happen. I wanted this so badly, this way. I would do anything for it.

‘You can do anything you want.
If you really want to, yes’

“Of course it can be done. I'll show you,” I grumbled back. I can still vividly remember the moment I started digging like a madman. Almost in a kind of angry trance. My poor cold stiff Nijntje had to and would be placed in that spot AND I REALLY COULD DO THAT. That's how it went. I seem to remember that Nijntje was really underground 3.5 hours later and that my hands were cold and sore from digging with the shovel. When I walked back inside, I remember that I said somewhat cheekily to my mother: “Where there's a will, there's a way.” She smiled at me and I still remember feeling like a total motherf*cking boss that I had fixed that job for Nijntje. Where there's a will, there's a way: I've actually always adhered to that philosophy.

Moral of this long, somewhat airy story? Never let others tell you what you can't do. You can do anything you want. If you really want to, yes. I can survive on an island without food, luxury, technology, and family if I want to. And even as a totally unfit girl, I can hang on a pole for three quarters of an hour when I'm in my trance. Your mind is stronger than you think. If you find this an interesting message, please take a look at this video the brilliant American vlogger Casey Neistat. My great example. It lasts 3 minutes and 52 seconds, and make sure to watch it all the way through. Words cannot express how strong the message in this video is. I'm almost certain this video will inspire you, just as it did for me.

P.S.: If you haven't cast a vote for Expedition Robinson yet and want to do so, I think you're a hero and that can of course here. And then I'm going to do something on that island that I ‘can't’ do. Until the final and back again.