Good Music and Happiness

Yesterday evening was wonderful, meeting up with good friends to listen to the performance of Savino Cesario, a mythic guitarist, who with his group entertained us and brought us much happiness.

We have spent unforgettable years with Savino, together in the Maldive Islands, where Oscar was the doctor for a village and I lead scuba diving and snorkelling. Savino instead, was an animator, and what an animator! Every evening he was able to get everyone involved with his guitar and with his likeable personality. He progressed and today he is a celebrity who works with the biggest names in entertainment, but he is still the likeable guy that we have always known.

Our friendship is one that has lasted over time, and we see each other every chance we get: sometimes for dinner (Savino is a wonderful cook), other times to hear him play, each time is different and exciting, letting you forget your small and big everyday problems: Thanks Savino…until next time!

The desert teaches: Balance

The search for balance was essential for me to accomplish my challenges in the desert. The ability to confront myself, to overcome the difficulties in the environment, to adapt to situations of human endurance without getting caught in despair, knowing how to evaluate each unexpected event with detachment and rationality, these are the moments that, more than anything else, come to mind when I think of the long days of loneliness and fatigue. The desert taught me to be comfortable with myself and with what surrounds me, to see people for what they are really worth and not for how they try to appear, not getting involved emotionally. It is very difficult to find the right balance, but it helps you overcome barriers you didn’t think possible. Often life puts us infront of complicated situations, in which one feels they are bumping into impassable walls. I learned that trying to knock them down is wrong: it consumes too much energy and you loose the clarity needed to get the situation under control. It is better to evaluate other possibilities with serenity and learn to manage your emotions, if you want to be comfortable with yourself and others: in the desert and in life.

Emotions

Today during an interview with Radio Città di Bollate I got to talk for a long time about my challenges in the desert. It is rare to have the hour to describe what happened during the weeks of solitude and relive the deep emotions that I experienced during those days of thinking, remembering and often suffering. It was truly exciting. I relived it like a film, moments of great joy and great sadness that were my adventure companions day after day and I believe I was able to transmit to the listeners how much I experienced and how I managed to finish challenges that were seen as impossible, thanks to the great love and passion I always dedicated to the desert.

I am sure that if we face challenges in life with joy and positivity, every day, there are unexpected surprises for us and we will have the satisfaction of realizing our dreams, also the most unlikely.

Staying in shape

We should always take care of our bodies. Especially as we age, it is essential to maintain a healthy, active lifestyle. As all doctors agree, exercise is also good for the mind and helps us unload tension.

It is difficult after a tiring day of work to think of engaging in athletics. Then laziness takes over. Instead we must try, remembering that bodies are wonderful machine which should be cared for and respected. Personally, I have always practiced sports and still do, with good results.

When the Faculty of Sport Science at the University of Milan carried out a series of tests before my last challenge, the doctors determined that my physical age was twenty years less than my true age compared to the normal population. Imagine that according to their studies, the average physical activity of a woman over forty is caring shopping bags! Perhaps it is worth getting out of our seat and starting to move: you risk being part of a depressing statistic!

The desert teaches: Solidarity

Solidarity is a mandatory rule in the desert and should be applied everywhere. Nature in its most severe should be lived with great awareness. Being supportive of those in difficulty is a behaviour that arises spontaneously when we approach out limit. Climbers, navigators, and explorers, made great gestures of solidarity, while in everyday life we see more and more the tendency to retreat into a shell, forgetting those who live near us. Many people are convinced that the world revolves around them and devote all their time only to themselves, without bothering to take care of others around them. Caring for others is challenging: it requires an emotional balance and an uncommon willingness, but sometimes it only takes very little. A few words at the right moment to a friend in need, knowing how to listen, giving an affectionate hug to someone sorrowful, making a kid smile or telling an elder: “I am here, beside you.” Little things can brighten up even the most grey day for those who are suffering, and can be provided by those who open their hearts.

The desert teaches: Courage

To be courageous doesn’t mean crossing deserts alone, climbing mountains or crossing the ocean. Courage develops above all in everyday life, when we find ourselves faced with difficult situations or we must make choices that often can change the course of our lives. True courage is living everyday with determination and a strong desire to be the protagonist of our own life. Destiny has already mapped out for us a road, waiting to be travelled,. It’s up to us to assess what difficulties lie ahead and to prepare ourselves to face them without doubt or uncertainty. It is not an easy path: like in the desert every step or unexpected surprise is to be faced with great concentration and effort, but we always have to have courage to make choices with determination , without being influenced by events or by people who may divert our steps and often hide our true goals: to live a life full of excitement, new discovery, that waits only to become ours: to make life of our life.

The desert teaches: respect

Respect is a universal concept, due not only to men, but also to the environment around us and all the living beings that inhabit it. Unfortunately, we often forget the importance of taking care of what we have been given: rampant selfishness makes us forget that nature is an asset that is our responsibility to protect and preserve. It is important to teach children from an early age to love others and animals, belonging to any species. The nomads of the desert are a great example: they love their land and respect it greatly. I will always remember the words of the leader of the boscimane village when he said good-bye to me at the start of my crossing the Kalabari: “ Remember that if you love and respect this desert and its inhabitats, you will be loved and respected in return.” And so it was.

The desert teaches: Serenity

All of us want to be serene, but often this is not reality. Serenity is a state of mind that only few people manage to maintain despite adverse situations, but it is essential to have the capacity to conserve it if you want to give life the true value it deserves. It is easy to be calm when all goes well, when the world smiles: much less if problems and worries weight on us. I this case you risk entering a mental state that makes us see only the negative attitudes of others and not see all the wonderful small things around us, that can help us find serenity. The desert taught me also this: to be able to see with new eyes what surrounds us. Watch with amazement a simple blade of grass that leaves a mark in the sand, the tracks of a tiny animal that is lost in the nothingness, the infinite space illuminated by the sun that embraces and warms you. And then look up towards the sky: and you will smile.

The desert teaches: to manage suffering

Since I started to cross deserts, I have learned that it is the mind more than the body that overcomes great difficulties. During my challenges I suffered a lot: suffering is part of life, also in everyday life we often encounter pain, sometimes physical and sometimes psychological. Every joy, success, achievement carries a heavy load, often at the limit of our capacity, a price that must be paid carefully and with awareness. Athletics have taught me a lot, helped me to form character, but above all the desert was a great teacher for me. Often when I find myself in front of a situation that is hard to control, my thoughts return there, amid the sand and the memories of hard times that I managed to overcome, and it gives me the strength to go on. I learned to numb my mind, to control my negative thoughts and to retain only excitement, moments of joy, that I keep in a magic box of memories and at the right moment I use to try and find new energy: to continue walking in that mysterious desert that is life.

Tradition

Every holiday often brings with it certain gestures and habits that are repeated and this time Easter was the occasion to maintain traditions that I have practiced since childhood and like to continue, year after year. Dying eggs and decorating them the night before is a ritual that involves the entire family. Early in the morning it is my turn to hide the eggs, and then the egg hunt begins with everyone: the winner is the one who finds the most eggs. This is just a game, but conserving traditions is important: it helps to strengthen ties, create memories that are handed down over time and make holidays special days.

Happy Easter

Peace and serenity should be an essential part of everyday life, however often they aren’t. Sometimes external circumstances create imbalance, anxiety and stress, other times it depends only on us being able to find the balance necessary to make our days bright, full of smiles and joy for life. It is not necessary to be serene, often the secret of happiness is in giving to others. We give love, tranquillity, peace, without asking for anything in exchange: you will see that suddenly our gifts are returned with equal intensity. And then we finally find joy to live. My wishes for a peaceful Easter.

The desert teaches: Self- Knowledge

Self-knowledge is essential to live balanced and with serenity, but sometimes the path is difficult, painful. Each of us is made of two entities that think and act in ways that often oppose each other. The part we know best is that which appears, which we use with others to live everyday, what makes us choose the safer road, which gives us certainty, but which often suffocates our emotions.

The second part, that we keep hidden, urges us to dare to try new ideas, invites us to explore to understand, to try unfamiliar experiences, to pursue other paths. The latter is more challenging, makes us suffer, forces us to fight, often disrupts our habits, but helps us understand who we really are and where we want to go, it makes us the protagonist in our existence.

The desert has taught me that life is precious, to be experience fully, without accepting compromises, conditions, to take with joy all that it gives us. From it I learned to listen to my heart, to follow my dreams often against everything and everyone: it made me unique. This is the great charm of life: to know who we are and live each moment with passion and love.