Tuesday 27 May 2008

Those naysayers

I have become pretty good pals with Amy Lam, the 55-year old 'havoc granny' who's the first Singaporean to complete the 3,500km Appalachian Trail in the eastern United States. She sends me little encouraging notes every now and then.

Now, this gruelling hike is no small challenge for anyone, regardless of age. It's definitely not a walk in the park but a hike in the mountains that took 127 days. It was an achievement which would not have come about if she had listened to the naysayers, she said.

“Most of the time, people are afraid of what others will say. They are going to say I’m nuts anyway, but I know that I wanted to do it,” she said. There were others who extended their support, though. When her cardiologist brother realised that she was serious about the hike, he gave her a check up to “make sure that my heart could take it”.

Now, don't you just love to hate those naysayers! Unfortunately, we can't avoid them completely since they're everywhere around us. Most of them can even be well-meaning friends and relatives.

I can be stubborn as a bull, so I try to dodge them as much as I can. Like, I enjoy running but non-runners have been telling me how I'll wear out my joints or kill my heart. In business, we have our fair share of naysayers too.

Amy is right. If we listen to everyone of them, we'll be paralysed with fear and doubt. Then, we'll never get anything done.

9 comments:

The Real Mother Hen said...

We humans are driven by only two things, love and fear.
That's why every religion can't wait to share love but all want to send us to hell at the end of the day.
Anyway back to this. Well I'm mostly driven by fear, therefore I nag and nag and nag!!! :)
Now, have you got your washing machine yet?! hahahaha sorry I'm having a good laugh here :)

The Real Mother Hen said...

Don't get one with a build-in dryer btw. Not good. Not good.

Anonymous said...

A couple of years ago I was very into inline skating and spent many weekend afternoons practising at the nearby park. Once I met a man who looked to be in his 60s learning the inline skate along the rails. Since we were using the same stretch of track I offered him a few tips. As I left the man to practise I could hear passers-by make snide remarks about him falling and breaking his old bones. I was quite sore about this. These people should hope they had his vitality to learn a new sport when they reach his age!

Anonymous said...

On the other hand I can be quite the hard-nosed skeptic and I often question other beliefs that people may hold. To these people I must be quite the naysayer too!

Blur Ting said...

Yah MH, that's why they always say it is for our own good cos they love us :-)

I have many fears too and sometimes I suffer from analysis paralysis.

Thanks for your advice on the washing machine. You do seem to have a strong affinity towards these machines don't ya? :-) I haven't found one yet but now I know that I shouldn't get one with a built in dryer.

Blur Ting said...

CH - Yah, I know what you mean. Some people just love to look at the negative side of everything.

And yes, you're can be so skeptical about things....
*shake my head*

Nick Phillips (15/03/1967 - 04/11/2022) said...

I know a lot of people who love to tell me what is good for me and there are so many times I feel like kicking their behinds.

I've had loads of people tell me the negatives of running but I seriously don't care if my knee caps fall off, I love running and nothing will change my mind ... Those naysayers can rot in hell ...

Blur Ting said...

Yah, that's the spirit Nick! Let's litter the track with our knee caps! :-)

Amel said...

I LOVE her already HE HE HE HE...GOOD LUCK to her future attempts in everything and to you too, Blur!!! :-))))

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