Remember The Impossibles and how a small group of ordinary superheroes are taking on challenges that they think are super super hard? Well, Ruth has now completed hers thanks to friends and jelly babies…

Ruth really does love anything cycling related and her favourite way to get around is on her two wheeled, basket on front, proper Cambridge towny bike (we’re still waiting on her tweed suit to match!). With coordinating You Can Bike Too and her own leisurely cycling combined, I’m not sure there are many people who think about bikes quite as much as Ruth! So when we asked her if she wanted to set herself an impossible challenge, surprise surprise, it was cycling related! This towny cyclist was going to ride 62 miles from Cambridge to Kings Lynn through the Fens!

And by golly she has gone and done it!

You might be surprised by Ruth’s response below, she certainly was. Have you ever done something big and then felt a little….disappointed?

Ruth made it to Kings Lynn!

“I did it! And, you know, I’m not sure if I’m surprised with myself or not…which seems a bit odd to me. I thought I’d be amazed, giving myself a huge pat on the back for achieving my ‘Impossible’. Instead, I feel more like, ‘yep I did well’. Sure, while I was peddling past Denver Sluice it felt like a challenge.. but now, it actually feels like it was easier than I thought it would be.I’ve been trying to work out why I feel like this. Is it because I knew I could do it before I set off? Sure, maybe there is an element of that but I still feel a little disappointed that I have not got a ‘wow, that was incredible’ feeling.

So how do I feel about my cycle ride?

As I was cycling I had the song sung by Lou Reed going around my head – ‘It’s such a perfect day’! I thought about how lucky I was to be outdoors, seeing huge grey skies that threatened rain. I felt warmth in the knowledge that my legs were working smoothly doing a good job! Although the mud on the road and the potato picking machines made me nervous, I admired the fact that they brought the ‘extra’ challenge to me – staying on my bike! I felt ‘soothed’ by the fact that all those people had sponsored me – they had faith in my abilities… They ‘carried’ me along!

What has been amazing, what has really given me the ‘wow’ factor is people’s willingness to ‘back’ me. Whether it be financially (money raised is going to You Can) and/or with lovely encouraging words – I value both equally. I have had such lovely comments said to me either about the way I work or the cause that I am raising funds for…it’s hard to measure that impact.

So the bike ride is done! But the ‘takeaway’ for me was more than the money and was more than the 62 miles I peddled! Thank you to all those people in my ‘world’ that believed in me. You have reminded me of the importance of letting others know what a great job they are doing too. Having people believe in me feels really good and I want others to have that feeling too!

And one last big thank you from my bike to Ben Haywards for treating it with the kindness and attention it needed before the big ride!”

So, Ruth’s Impossible started as a personal challenge where she figured she’d have to pull on some incredible inner strength from somewhere to succeed. But really, what got her through this challenge was more about community. It’s the pats on the back, the ‘you can do it’ attitude of her friends and acquaintances – oh and a few jelly babies which she says without she “may not have gotten past 10 Mile Bank”! We are all very proud of Ruth for completing this challenge and excited to help her complete many more in the future.

What personal challenge are you currently taking on, or thinking about taking on? Does it seem daunting and out of the reach of one human being? Well, if Ruth’s story is anything to go by then perhaps all of our challenges would seem less impossible – more possible – if we were to surround ourselves with a supportive community.

Need a community of do gooders who are experts in cheering each other on? Perhaps you’d like to take part in The Impossibles.

Who needs to lift a bike when it has its own gutter!

Ruth’s supportive community – in jelly form!

It’s all adventure in the fens!

Pic by flickr user Zenilorac

Being different isn’t being better.

I have spent my whole life running away from ‘supposed to’, ‘should’ and ‘just because’. I feel different. I feel like I think differently. I don’t feel like I fit in. Not surprisingly, I often hear negative ‘voices’, misinterpretations of ‘me’ being ‘me’.

“You are just seeking the limelight”

“You want to be different just because”

“Well, it’s alright for some”

“You are getting people’s hopes up. Setting them up for failure”

“It’s just a phase, go off and do your adventures and then you’ll come back to reality”

The worst one of all is: “You think you are so much better than everyone else” or “what gives you the right to think differently. You think you are so special”.

Does any of this sound familiar? Have you heard these negative “voices”? Admittedly, while I have heard people say some of the above, many of them are my own fears about what people think. Sometimes, I think I can see it in their eyes. My greatest fear is that because I can see things in a different way, because I challenge the way things are done, people think that I believe I am better than them.

But I am NOT better.

In fact, in all honesty, for much of the time I feel not better than others, but worse. I feel like an outcast. My self doubt is my own worst enemy. Trust me on this. I often feel like I have no right to challenge the ‘systems’… but I can’t help myself. It’s the way my mind works, the way I think.

A lot of what I choose to do, I do partly because it is different… but never ‘just because’. When me and my crew of ordinary superheroes started The You Can Hub, we were keen to do things differently. This is a huge part of who we are. With this, I frequently feel terrified that people might think I am putting myself on a pedestal above the rest. Do you ever get this feeling? How often are you shaking in your boots out of fear that someone might think that you are special? Or worse, that they think that you think you are special?

I don’t believe in pedestals. I battle hierarchy every day. I believe that everyone can, that we all have an incredible gift to share with the world that only we as individuals can do in our own unique way. Everyone has an ability, a unique superpower perhaps. If people are put on pedestals then it means that they are somehow better than the rest. More importantly, it means that they are making others feel small. I never want anybody to feel small, because I know what it feels like.

One day recently, I realised that I am not putting myself on a pedestal. I am putting the imagined responses of other people on a pedestal. Well, frankly, that’s ridiculous.

It’s time to kick the pedestal from under my fears and from under yours too.

Let’s look at our strengths with new courage. Thinking and seeing things differently is my superpower. My natural curiosity means I ask different questions, which in turn helps others think differently too. Give me an idea and I can see it happening in the future. I see potential in everyone – yes, in you too. Being able to visualise this potential happening means that I get rather excited and I can’t help but try to show you this new world too.

So if these are my gifts, my superpowers, then it is my duty to share them with the world and to use them as much as possible. Yes, I think I am different in the way that I do these things. But you are different in the way that you do something too. We each have unique gifts and it is integral that we humbly share them with the world.

What are your superpowers? Do you feel different? Do you battle with the same inner demons and fears of judgement? What or who are you putting on a pedestal and how will you *kick it? Write your thoughts in the comments below. By talking about them we make them more real, we make them tangible and it’s a hell of a lot easier to “kick it” together.

Watch out world, here we come!

*Warning, I imagine kicking a real physical pedestal would hurt…a lot. Maybe stick to the metaphor!

The Life and Times of a Remarkable Misfit is coming to Cambridge!

Not only that, but Princess of Organising Chaos over at Misfit Inc, Jessie White, has put together this awesome poster.

[gview file=”http://theyoucanhub.org.uk/files/2013/11/Misfit-Gig-Cambridge-Poster.pdf” height=”1300px” save=”0″]

Misfit friends, new or long-standing, are invited to join us – if you would like more information and a free ticket head over to our booking page!