Hola to my lovely blog readers! Hope all is well in your world 🙂
This blog post is going to touch on a few points, so brace yourself. I want to bring you up to speed on my recent happenings, tussles with my future direction and give you some advice on how to change the world yourself.
You may have noticed less posts on my blog than usual. It’s taken a trip away to realise something very important about myself; I burnt out at the end of 2012. This isn’t in some dramatic way, but nonetheless food for thought in the future.
Having thrown myself into my blog, Disability Horizons, e-learning projects and media work; it became apparent that making a living from your passion isn’t so easy! I’ve been lucky enough, under the tutelage of AJ and Melissa Leon, to know how to work on your passion and travel sustainably. It’s amazing I’ve achieved so much the past 18 months, and survived them too, but it has certainly taken its toll.
It became apparent that funding my projects directly was a fair way away, and unfortunately life demands money. So, in November and December I began a quest to offer my wealth of knowledge and experience on social media, marketing and disability to others. Life always throws us challenges, and seems to go the way we least expect. I certainly didn’t plan two years ago to offer myself for consultancy work, but for now it’s right in many ways. As I’ve meandered to this point and questioned my upcoming direction; simplification is the best option. Following a lower spell, I realised my consultancy work can pay the bills, but my disability projects can carry on and I can continue to explore this world of ours – changing it bit by bit.
Which brings me onto my advise. The whole time I’d debated if I had failed, whether I should give up, and if my attempts had made any difference; I was missing something so obvious! It took something right under my nose in Spain to show me the importance of life.
First and foremost I shouldn’t have been questioning anything whilst on my project in northern Spain. With European Union funding to travel to, live in and volunteer on cool activities; you could get annoyed at me for any negativity. However, I’m a deep thinker and I care about working on things: past, present and future that matter! Hence my pensive mood in Aviles.
Then one night I headed to a bar where I’d interviewed the owner for this video. He said last year he would build a ramp should I ever come back. It was unlikely I would return and I really thought the ramp would’ve been forgotten. On arrival, he greeted us, headed off and came back with a ramp smiling!
Clearly on a personal level it was great to enter the bar safer and more easily. Furthermore, it made me glow that other wheelchair users could do so in the future too. The accessibility video project had made a difference.
Then someone said to me these powerful words: “you know Martyn, your work is great, but you really change the world just by being you and living life”.
So, as I head off to strategise my consultancy business, dream up my next disability project, plan for my radio show with Kasia here and so forth – remember this…
Whoever you are and whatever you do: if you live life fully, make people question our world sometimes, and change even one persons attitude – you are changing the world! Even more importantly, appreciate what you already have alongside planning an even more beautiful future.
I hope you enjoyed this very open and honest post. If you have any thoughts please get in touch, and if your peeps will enjoy it too please share it.
I’ll be back with a video on my Spanish antics soon. We are planning the premier of the video before I leave Asturias in 4 weeks and head to Tenerife, before driving my car home mid April 😉
((Martyn))
Honesty is always a good thing, it’s OK for those you inspire to see you open up when things aren’t so good because they can identify with the bad days as well as the good ones.
You need to start keeping an eye in your ‘spoon stash’ and respecting it, my friend! I ignored my own advice on that one recently and I’m paying for it! I have learned the hard way that sometimes to get further you need to do less, more wisely. 😉
Thats a lovely blog that inspires me with real experience. Thank you
Interesting insight Martyn. My experience is you can and will continue to both earn money to live and drive the things you are passionate about. My son when I was in a difficult place bought me a paperweight with a few words upon it. ” be the change you want to see in the world” great insight from jonathan that ensures I both earn money and ensure that I remain inspired by ensuring everything I do chimes with my values. We can all make a difference everyday. We just need to accept that this will be in different ways on each day. What is important is to be true to ourselves everyday.
I believe the quote is Ghandi for the record.
I know the quote well 🙂 Just a matter of striking right balance. Hope you are well!
I have only been disabled for about 4 years, actually I have only been using a wheelchair for that long, I have been on and off crutches for about 15 years.
Anyway, its hard to suddenly find yourself needing to rely on a wheelchair and I was scared, however two people made it easier for me to cope, the first person was a friend who had a motorbike accident and is now in a chair, he does more than most able bodied people.
The second person is Martyn Sibley, when I doubt that I can do something I remember you and I then shake off the doubt and push forward, you are an inspiration Mr Sibley!
Thanks Zec, that means a lot 🙂
Nice blog entry .
It’s true we can’t change the world,or people’s attitudes easily,but we can but chip away at them…and I admire your slant on disabled living(having been paralysed 10 years myself).
My wife and I separated Last year September, I will agree I wasn’t true to myself and her. But i did all I could let her have a good life I did put all my energy into our little family as we have 2 beautiful kids.because I worked As a waiter she didn’t really like that for a career, she thought i didn’t want to do well in my life. last year as the harsh finance situation hit as we’ve been suffering with our finance for a while she decided to end our marriage. which i was very devastated!! to lose the love of my life, but a month after separation i went to France for 10days to clear my head. when i got back she wanted me back but she didn’t want romantic side of it a month after xmas she told me again that she cant do it anymore as our finance was at lowest. then we made a decision to end it to sort our lives out…but my prayer everyday for her to realize that i am not a loser all i wanted is to do what i could to put food on the table and roof over their head. since the second separation i am qualified football coach and fitness instructor and doing more toward my career but I don’t want to get into a relationship with another woman when my wife and I suffered all of this years when my career takes of shes not there to enjoy it with me..I really want her back in my life so i contacted this spell caster Abija olalude who now help me to bring her back, we now have a happy family together with my wife. If you want his help you reach him via email at [email protected] you are well come!
Thank you for sharing this personal story with us Martyn. 🙂 And those words are so true: “…you really change the world just by being you and living life”. You sure are an inspiration to me… in the way you see or seek for possibilities in stead of limitations, in how involved and passionate you are about making a change for disabled people and in your strong, wise and sunny spirit and approach. Meanwhile it’s definitely a good thing to listen to your body, to seek simplification, to get back into a healthier balance and pay some bills ;-). Good luck with that Martyn. And thank you loads for changing our world, bit by bit…