Anna Ashfield describes herself as “a kind of can’t-be-arsed girl (who is really a middle aged woman). If an opportunity to do something arises, I test it by thinking, “when I go to bed at night and the opportunity has passed, will I regret it?” Fear alone is not an excuse to say no. But, if I simply don’t want to do it, that is the best reason of all to say no, not for me.”
Anna sent me an email in response to one of my email newsletters about learning to live more adventurously (https://alastairhumphreys.com/living-adventurously/). She went on to tell me some amusing anecdotes about her attempts to encourage a bunch of her friends to sleep out on a microadventure once a month.
We met for a cup of tea before I continued my ride, but then Anna wanted to show me her favourite wood, and then we went to the pub and then she and her husband John invited me for dinner and then to stay the night! Proper Yorkshire hospitality…
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SHOW NOTES
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- Anna is on Instagram: @anna.ashfield
- I won’t regret not washing the kitchen floor more often
- Both Buddhism and Royal Marine training are enquiries into the nature of suffering
- Childhood cancer – having a real purpose helped deal with it. It taught us that what we have in life is so precious.
- For the daughter, her recovery has made her more positive and make the most of opportunities
- There were, in fact, gifts that came from childhood illness
- I’m not allowed to say ‘no’ to anything if the reason is because I’m scared
- Fear alone is not an excuse to say no. But if I simply don’t want to do it then I say no.
- The big decisions I’ve made in life tend to be gut decisions
- I joined the Royal Marines because I wanted to test myself against the best
- You often don’t know the outcome of a decision you’ve made until you reflect on it much later in life
- Am I really as brave as I think I am?
- (As Anna’s husband was a Royal Marine I feel that it’s prudent for me to point out that when I asked Anna about her ‘felted bottom’ I was referring to a piece of artwork! 😂)
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You can see my ride’s route on komoot here.
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