BUTTERFLIES AND ADRENALIN

Post date: Jun 28, 2011 10:35:40 AM

Geoff deep in the Namib Desert

I’m beginning to feel those familiar butterflies in the stomach that I know so well from my motorsport days.

In a rally car I’d wait for the marshal to count me down 3-2-1 and then launch myself like a sprinter from the blocks, my whole being focused on reeling in the horizon as quickly as possible, but not so fast that I’d hurtle off into the scenery with life-threatening consequences.

In a race car on the starting grid there was the delicious agony of a dry mouth, sweaty palms and deliberate slow, deep breaths as I waited for the green lights to detonate an explosion of high-powered machinery, all of us manically intent on being first through the first corner.

I remember asking multiple race and rally champ Sarel van der Merwe if he was ever nervous before the start? “Always,” he replied. “If you aren’t you aren’t sufficiently focussed and committed. You need that adrenaline charge to deliver of your best.”

So it’s good that I’m tingling with excitement and mild apprehension. This walk is the most important thing I’ve committed to and the enactment of my life purpose. I believe I can make a difference by raising awareness about the health of Gaia Earth and the interconnected well-being of each of us inhabiting this wonderful world.

How’s that for a change of pace and priorities?

Instead of blasting through the landscape at breakneck speed, I’ll be walking at a pace that enables me to be one with my surroundings and to engage meaningfully with others I meet along the way. Each step will be a celebration and a blessing, honouring the Earth as the source of my sustenance and inspiration.

And instead of seeing others as adversaries I’ll know them as fellow pilgrims, each walking their individual paths, consciously or otherwise.

Funnily enough I still love speed, but these days I’m more likely to admire the Olympic gold medallists of the natural world like the cheetah and the falcon. Imagine how it must feel to be in those paws or feathers.

In a speeding car I was disconnected and out of step with Nature and still feel the shame and nausea at the destruction I caused. Once I slid around a corner and crushed the spine of a snake that wasn’t fast enough to slither to safety; also slamming into a magnificent eagle owl that had swooped down on a scurrying rodent, unaware that death was only a moment away. I’ve also side-swiped and probably crippled an antelope with my speeding rally car, but being so intent on victory I didn’t stop to see if I could help the stricken creature.

But that’s as it is. All my past – every skidmark and footstep – has made me who I am today. I’m a pilgrim in love with Life; feeling incredibly alive, exhilarated and liberated.

Roll on July 7 and the start of my greatest adventure ever.

Flashback to the 1995 Camel Trophy ... Geoff, left, with fellow South African adventurers Paul, Marc and Marek.