‘There is Everest in everyday lives, climb it with positivity’
dubai — When the mind is conditioned to think negatively, it takes immense effort to establish positive thinking.
But positivity can do wonders for the human experience, just like it did for asthmatic Mogens Jensen, who cycled and ran the trip of 11,500km through 13 countries in 100 days to get to the base camp of the Mount Everest before climbing to the summit without supplementary oxygen.
Reaching the top of the world’s highest mountain, though, happened after two failures. The first time, the 45-year-old Danish mountaineer had to turn around just 350 metres from the top due to frostbite. After training for another year, Jensen returned to the Everest but was hit by acute mountain sickness at 8,000 metres.
Dubai resident Jensen, who conquered the Mount Everest in his third attempt, uses his experience 10 years later to coach people and mentor them towards achieving their goals. “We all have Everests to climb in our life. If I could go to the place on earth with least oxygen as an asthmatic, then you can also climb your own Everest,” said Jensen on the sidelines of a TEDx event organised by Pristine Private School.
“It is easy to be a negative thinker because if we had thought positively during the Stone Age, we would’ve been eaten within two days. You have to have awareness and work hard to be a positive human.”
For every negative thought, people have to create five positive thoughts to achieve the balance, which demonstrates how powerful negative thoughts can be. But, Jensen said, life starts upon taking an adventure and going outside the comfort zone.
“Awareness is important, especially when pushing your boundaries because that’s when the negative thought is easily attainable and the mind will stop you from going the extra mile,” said the mountaineer.
How adventures shape the mind
Cycling through Denmark, Germany, Czech Republic, Slovakia, Romania, Hungary, Bulgaria and Turkey down to Iran, Pakistan, India, Nepal and Tibet, opened Jensen’s eyes to different culture and natures.
Cycling an average of 100km and running for 15km per day, he said approaching an adventure teaches people to have an open and positive mind.
“I was told by everyone that Iran and Pakistan were dangerous to visit, but I noticed they were the countries with the most friendliness and hospitality. We usually expect dreadful things, but sometimes we are met with paradise once we give it a try,” said Jensen.
Once he reached the base camp, Jensen said, being part of an expedition of about nine mountaineers from seven different countries, he had to work transparently and honestly with people he hardly knew.
“On the Everest, you need help when you’re down and you need to give help when you’re up.
“You need to be honest with others and not only say what you can do, but also what you cannot do, which is the same concept that we have to follow throughout our daily life,” said Jensen.
He stressed on changing the
On the Everest, you need help when you’re down and you need to give help when you’re up. We shouldn’t escape adversity but we should learn a lesson from it.” Mogens Jensen, mountaineer
mind to positivity and doing so with people around. “Relations are the most important aspect for human beings and the key is having right relations,” he said.
Since positive thoughts build the mind, Jensen stressed on efforts to establish a bright outlook on life.
“Most important thing to remember is that adversity and hard work are parts of life. We shouldn’t escape adversity but we should learn a lesson from it.”
Jensen added: “You don’t have guarantees when you try, but it’s better than doing nothing and not learning anything.”