Don’t hide your obstacles

After a terrible night with no sleep, the moment has finally come because today I am going speaking at TEDxMaastricht and thats the coolest thing I’ve done so far and an experience never to be forgotten. Once I arrived at the MECC, it was mainly a matter of checking out the atmosphere. It was my turn at 1520 so I had plenty of time to practice and especially to unwind. TEDxMaastricht 2018 had started and together with fellow speaker Nadine Blankvoort we watched from the sidelines the opening of TEDxMaastricht 2018 and the act / talk of Adriaan Luteijn.

In the few hours between the opening and my talk, I wandered like a zombie. The Walking Dead was nothing like it and by now I had no idea what to do with myself. Nerves rose up like shit and I couldn’t get my heart rate under control. But the time had come. No way back and I had to go upstairs and get ready for my talk. I quickly asked my coach Margo if I could take my time on the dot before I started talking. There I was, in the middle of the red TEDxMaastricht dot and I said “Hello” and 1000 people responded in sync with “Hello”.

After each sentence, I felt more calm and there was even room for a joke. Funnily enough, my talk flew by and I don’t remember exactly what I did. It went well because Margo de Kock my coach of the past few weeks was cheering behind the curtain encouraging my victory from which I could tell it was all right. Wonderful to get so much support from the other speakers and even a standing ovation from the audience after my talk. Not only did I achieve a personal victory this day. I also fulfilled one of my personal wishes and was able to spread an important message for those who want to hear it.

Don’t Hide your obstacles. Face them. Accept help and you will beat your obstacles.

TEDx Maastricht was amazing! A bizarre adventure and something I wouldn’t have missed for the world. I told about my 3 biggest obstacles and one of these obstacles I gave a place during my talk and told about my Tourette Syndrome. I can look back on a great experience with only winners. Click here for all the pictures. AND watch my entire TedX Talk during TEDxMaastricht.

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