How can we find joy and strength during hardships
i recall
one of the last conversations i had with
my father
when he woke up from morphine where he
was sitting with
an oxygen apparatus he said
that he was dreaming that he was a
marathon runner
and that he was dancing with mrs janino
hoyska
a well-known polish humanitarian
activities in poland
i thought his dream was all fictional
and did not have any merits because he
has never run before in his life
i didn’t think about my father’s dream
for a long time
but after several years i realized
that i was living my loved father’s
dream
in a way his dream furthers the purpose
of my life
which is to help others in whatever way
i can
i combined my passion for extreme sports
and the purpose of helping others and it
brings me
the utmost happiness in life my life
purpose
of helping people regardless of who they
are and what they have motivates me from
my hardships
and i found so much joy
when i achieved the purpose the most
important thing
to push your boundaries is motivation
because when you have great motivation
inside of you your own personal goal
you have the power and you can really
keep
on pushing forward
i am not superhero hero with extreme
speed or strength
rather i am an ordinary polish man i
have a loving wife
wonderful children a prospering company
and passions which i share with my loved
ones i am an expert in emergency
shipping and overall
i have a tightly organized schedule
after work i want to feel something
different
and sports give me endorphins enthusiasm
and zest for life
when life gets complicated sports also
help me to be more
centered and focus in the unstable
unpredictable environment
in the world of uncertainty i appreciate
a sense of peace
i always like to push myself to do more
when i can the day before
i like to take risk because i think when
we do so
we discover our limitations and decide
on the things we would like to improve
i believe my childhood is the source of
my strength
i grew up in a poor rough dangerous
district in warsaw
prague i realized that
not in spite of that but because of that
i’m more sensitive to the
needs of others i remember
there was always an element of
solidarity
that is very close to me being
surrounded by alcoholics
thieves the teenage drama when i had to
financially support my widowed mother
and my little brother all these
experiences
made me sensitive open and emphatic to
other people in my district
helping was nothing extraordinary as
even an alcoholic
who probably had nothing wanted to help
it was natural for people to try out and
help in the
way they could people who had nothing
were still able to give
when i help i feel useful calm
fulfilled and joyful it makes me life
in 2014 i completed the mara from the
sale
it is regarded as the toughest food race
on earth
it is sixth day 251 kilometers
or 155 six miles for you american forks
this charitable ultra marathon is held
in the sahara desert
it has the length of approximately the
distance
of six regular marathons the temperature
reached
nearly 50 degrees celsius or 122 degree
fahrenheit
fatal accidents have been reported in
the history
of the competition mara from the sale
is associated with the noble cause
of helping the local community
thanks to the organization of this ultra
marathon
eight pumps were installed solar school
supplies distributed
in isolated village they modernized
toilet
showers with solar heating a craft
complex
for women was built in jidad with a
workshop school in kindergarten
conference room kitchen toilets
and clinic i tell you one thing which i
don’t like to admit
when i was packing for my trip to the
race i was trying to explain to my wife
that everything will be fine and i will
come back safe
unfortunately i forgot the shoes in
which i prepare
myself for a year when i was
already in the desert i realized
that i didn’t have them fortunately
one of the participants lent me his
shoes they were exactly three numbers to
pick
i looked funny but it turned out to be
beneficial
in such conditions the legs well nails
go down
and huge prints were made
my feet were blistering and like my
heart was racing
however the physical pain was income
incomparable to the mental exhaustion
thoughts of doubt rushing in my mind
will i able to finish the this race the
wind is too harsh
and the scent is flying everywhere i
cannot see
i will go blind if i continue running
maybe i should quit i remember the
runners who were given a drip lying down
of exhaustion i also saw anna’s calling
for help
by firing a flirt that everyone got from
the organizer of the race
in my darkest moments i was envisioning
all the people who will benefit from the
marathon
women and children who will get to go to
school
for the first time we leaders who will
have
electricity modernized housing equipment
and health cleaning
envisioning all these images motivate me
along the way i made a promise to myself
that i cannot quit
i cannot quit because i’m not running
for myself
i cannot quit because i’m i’m running
for these women
children other leaders and the resources
that will make their lives better
after six exhausting days i finished the
race
and met the people i was trying for
their smiles
made the blistering feet all worth it
then one
runner from london came to me and
thanked me for my supper during the race
i saw him when he was exhausted
and i told him don’t give up follow me i
remember
he told me the story of his life during
the day and night stages
of the race i just listened to him
and he was busy talking walking step by
step another mile
in 2015 i partake in the baikal ice
marathon
across the frozen baikal lake the
deepest body
of freshwater it is a unesco world
heritage site
which holds twenty percent of the fresh
surface water on earth i was running for
chemic voyda
a very talented and intelligent young
man
who i have known since this his birth i
started
with his father so i had the opportunity
to see
what difficulties he face on a daily
basis
he moves in a wheelchair due to
meningitis
my main goal was to support chanek and
continue his sports passion
and to obtain funds for rehabilitation
money from the baikal supported shanks
rehabilitation
he was also invited to polish tv
where he could comment on a volleyball
match
so in a way his sports dream came true
from the race i remember two things
the ice cold temperature of about minus
30 degree celsius
or minus 20 degree fahrenheit and the
blastering
wind the terrifying creeks on the
glacier surface
so loud that everyone thought
that ice was cracking and participant
would have to squad
during the race in those moments to
avoid from falling down to the freezing
water
when i’m there in harsh conditions
i need to master my mind to convince
myself that the race is going to last 12
hours
and i am able to manage that
there is no going back it’s a simple
situation
either or survive or i die so there is
no space to fear
or over analyzing there is only one way
to go forward
you create some kind of space in your
mind
that you can resist all these hard
conditions you don’t accept any things
that bother you like pain injuries you
don’t care about anything
just making to your destination in one
piece
it’s physical exhaustion overcoming your
own emotion and beyond
but it’s your inner motivation to get
there
to reach your goals
both my dad and my friend passed away
because of cancer
i remember well how this disease
destroyed my father
that is why i sign up for a voluntary
course at
the home hospice it is the largest
hospice of this type in warsaw
they also care for orphaned children as
a result one of their parents illnesses
in 2016 i ran the tenzing hillary
everest marathon
the world’s highest straight marathon
for the home hospice
in order to start in the marathon you
have to get to the height
5400 meters above the sea levels
this race started from the base camp at
the foot of everest
i remember having a terrifying headache
lack of appetite and strength i start
feeling a pain of the right side above
my stomach
and below my lungs the pain slowly
intensifies and
as i run along when the pain comes i
focus on breathing
breathe in through my mouth and breathe
out from my nose i listen to my mind
about my goal to run the faces and keep
running
now my brain scans my whole body
and identifies some pain in my calf
and tells me there is some problem
my mind says just ignore it and focus on
faces
i always visualize the faces of people i
would like to help
it helps me to deal with the pain and
make it easier
to achieve the goal when i run in
the himalayas i was thinking about the
children of the home hospice
where i was volunteering it’s like in
our life
when you patiently joke to reach the
goal
then it turns out that the roads you
pass
are the most important thanks to my
start intensive hilarious marathon
they managed to organize their summer
holidays for those kids
we were supported by storm group
organizing sailing camps and the
companies haribo
jaya which delivered products parents
from the local uk
as biowa orwe the football club attended
by my sons joined the action
i am very glad that the action had such
a response
running is a metaphor for life because
in our lives
we have so many of doubts it is
universal experience to struggle
during these hardest moments ask
yourself the reason
why you are doing what you are doing
don’t give up
have courage and try your best
helping others and making difference
doesn’t have to be something big like
running extreme marathons
connect to your purpose of helping
others you can help others too
in your own way it’s a beautiful journey
discovering how we can grow by pushing
boundaries
in breath and no paths and healing
each other so i ask you
what is your purpose and what is your
daily joy
you