Picture from Lagos, Portugal
​(6 min read)

A couple of years back, an acquaintance and results coach I held deep respect for told me, “Jane, you have to be more unreasonable in what you want out of your life and dreams.”

I couldn’t believe what I heard and felt an instant overwhelming sense of irritation.

Did she just ask me be an unreasonable person?

Needless to say, the emotional and quick-tempered me went into a direct conflict with her. I vehemently disagreed, retorting that the proposition was totally irresponsible and illogical.  Doesn’t she know that the word “unreasonable” has a stinky reputation and how can anyone who cares want me to be that person? 

Picture from Quebrada de Humahuaca, Jujuy, Argentina
(7 min read)

In my journey of travelling and interacting with people (hello from Uyuni, Bolivia), I’ve realised that many times, the idea of “taking a break” from the normalities of our daily lives scares the majority of us.

Why? Perhaps, we are doing something that is against our comfort zones, and that unpredictability and lack of security make us uncomfortable. Or perhaps, we feel guilty about leaving the responsibilities we have behind and feel that we cannot “afford” that break.

But the most interesting reason I’ve come across is that taking a break is subconsciously deemed as a sign of weakness – that we are being counter-productive, that we are wasting time, that we aren’t doing something effective and value-adding with our lives. Because our lives seemingly come to a standstill, we feel embarrassed to take breaks that we feel are “too long”.

First and foremost, as someone who has gone down this path and has gained an inordinate amount of learnings from it, I fully disagree with all that. And secondly, when did we become so critical and hard on ourselves?