© Organisation: Katarina Marevic Schmieder, Mutgestalter 1.0 / © Photo: Marija Krolo / kroloma
It all started with a message from my friend Kata asking “Are you free on the 22nd February or 7th March?” I replied “Yeah, the 22nd would be good. Why?” No reply.
Only in the evening, she texted again “OK, I did it. I’ve organised an event and just put it through Eventbrite. You will be one of the speakers at the event. It’s about encouraging storytelling.”
Wow. One of my goals was just about to become real.
I replied “Wow, that’s amazing. I feel honoured that you want me to tell my story at the event. Thank you for providing the platform. I’m in, but definitely with great respect.”
So, on the 22nd February I would be speaking about my story, my travels through Latin America and my inner journey. I was very excited. Cause joining an event as a speaker has been on my wish, goal and project list for a while. This is what I find so beautiful about life; just by letting go and trusting yourself and life, opportunities will be arising for you, giving you exactly what you want.
Life is working in your favour.
I’m not someone who spends ages preparing, I’m the more flexible, spontaneous type, as to me it feels more authentic, but of course I thought about the most important ‘stops’ in my life to make my story smooth and to pass on my main message.
We were 5 speakers in total and I was up 2nd. I won’t go into detail of every single story, but I will share with you what all stories had in common for me.
Every single story, every single experience is so beautiful and valuable, even if it doesn’t feel like it when you are just overrun by a situation.
It was lovely speaking about my personal journey again, as it enabled me to re-live certain aspects, to reflect on them again and to share my insights with our very nice guests. The atmosphere was casual, open and loving, just like in a living room. I felt absolutely comfortable in this safe environment, and yet we all had to leave our comfort zone just a tiny bit. Speaking in front of people doesn’t make me nervous, I always had to do marketing presentations in front of bigger audiences, but with it being such a personal presentation of our lives, emotions and experiences, definitely made it an event, where even I had to breathe deeper before I started speaking. I was vulnerable.
I felt very good whilst sharing my story, apparently too good, haha, since I spoke way longer than I had originally planned. See, this is why I don’t prepare as much, as it’s almost a waste of time for me. I’m better with just going with the flow.
Go with the flow
This brings me to my next insight. I noticed that all of our journeys were fully heart led, because deep down we knew what we had to do. Yes, there were doubts, yes there were fears, yes there were days where we wanted to give up, but deep down in our heart, we always knew the answer, to wherever our stories led us. We all knew that we must follow our heart. That we must trust ourselves and life. That we must believe that our first feeling, our intuition, is always right, and that it holds the key to our very own answer.
Courage is often the result of our heart and gut feel.
So, I encourage you to do the following:
Go out there, follow your heart and be brave!
What do you have to lose? Nothing!
What do you win? Getting closer and closer to the real you!
Yours, Nina
PS. The next events are already scheduled for the 22nd March and 19th April. Google Mutgestalter 2.0 and 3.0, if you want to be a part of this.
NINA SADLOWSKY 