How Important Are Your Dreams?

January 16, 2019January 16, 2019 by Anne-Maria Yritys, posted in Career coaching, Change Leadership, MBA Careers

Last night I dreamed that I was going to the opera to see The Nutcracker. In dreams, everything is possible. I love the opera. Now, when I am speaking about the opera, I refer to the musical experience, not to any web browsers or software with the same name.

When you Google the word “opera”, the first three pages of search results unfortunately include a lot of information about Opera-named web browsers and/or software. Of course, search engine algorithms – you have to be more specific with your online searches if you want to find what you are looking for!

On the other hand, as an internet entrepreneur or online business, you have to be specific about what kinds of products and services you are selling unless of course, you do not want to be found online.

My most exotic opera experience so far has been an opera in St. Petersburg, Russia, which was sung in both Italian and Russian, years before I had continued to improve my very basic skills in Russian that I had acquired as a young student back in 1998.

Italian, as a language, is much easier to comprehend and to learn, especially if and when you speak fluent French. The more languages you know, and learn, the easier it is to understand related languages. With fluent Swedish and German, for instance, it is easy for me to understand Norwegian and Danish. Dutch is a bit harder although Dutch too is a Germanic language.

I have taken classes in Italian as well. When you live for several years in Switzerland, you can nothing but learn some Italian automatically since the language is present everywhere in the country that has four official languages. Finland has only two official languages; Finnish and Swedish. Saami language is unfortunately not an official language in Finland although Finland claims that it is honoring Saami culture and traditions.

Even more than the opera, I love the ballet; watching all those artistic choreographies and talented dancers with so much passion for what they do that they put their bodies through so much pain for every single performance, day in and day out, with bleeding toes and cramping muscles, without ever complaining.

In my dream, however, I arrived late at the opera since I was helping someone out with their photography and realized far too late, that my train connections to the opera would take at least two hours one way. I left far too late and realized that I would miss the beginning of the performance or arrive at least half an hour late.

Lesson of the dream?

Do not postpone your life´s dreams because of circumstances or other people, or despite of the fact that people around you do not approve of your dreams. There is always someone out there who will support your dreams, and if not, you can support yourself!

Many years ago, while I was working as a cabin crew member in a charter airline company, we were taught that in case of emergency and if cabin pressure decreases, you have to ensure your own oxygen intake first.

My career as a flight attendant remained a rather short experience, mainly because I grew tired of traveling around the world all the time and living in hotels, but also because I was concerned about the impacts of aviation on our global environment through the release of CO2 emissions.

Today I know that aviation alone causes “only” around 2% of all anthropogenic carbon dioxide emissions (according to IATA), and that the aviation industry is far from alone being responsible for any global emissions. Moreover, the aviation industry has for years been improving its efficiency in terms of global CO2 emissions and experiments with energy-efficient solutions and completely new options for carrying out flights.

If you have ever traveled for work, you may understand what I am talking about when referring to the fact that I actually enjoy being at home rather than flying around the world all the time at odd hours. Especially when flying during night hours most of the time, and not as a passenger who can sleep during a flight but as a cabin crew member whose number one priority is to ensure passenger safety and stay awake at all times.

Where I worked, staff (cabin crew) did not have the permission to take any naps during flights, although we were often flying extremely odd and long hours, with shifts starting e.g. at midnight and sometimes ending in completely another time zone 15 hours later (if there were any delays – which was quite common due to weather-related issues, turbulence etc).

We flew Boeing 757-200, if you know something about aircrafts. I personally do not know much about aircrafts, I just know everything I need to know about Boeing 757-200 aircraft types. Or, I used to know. I still remember the locations of all the emergency equipment in the aircraft.

In case of emergencies, always help yourself first. Or at least ensure your personal safety, because if you do not help yourself, you cannot help others. Nor can you pour from an empty cup.

Anne-Maria Yritys 16.1.2019

What Are You Thankful for in Your Life?

July 26, 2018 by Anne-Maria Yritys, posted in Change Leadership, Leadership Development, Leadership development coaching, Personal Development

Some memories from an unforgettable trip from July 2012 when I was backpacking by myself for a month in Cambodia, Vietnam (and Thailand). I took my AOWD in Sihanoukville, Cambodia, and stayed at an almost desert island for a couple of days.

Would love to travel back to Cambodia again, although it was a journey that changed my perspective on life for good. Seeing the suffering of the people in Cambodia broke my heart. That is how much war causes destruction to both the economy and the well-being of the population in a country. The country has plenty of war cripples, many of whom miss arms, legs, or both, due to landmines that have still not been cleaned up from the country´s environment although it has been more than 40 years now since the civil war officially ended.

Widespread corruption is one of the reasons why the country has still not recovered well from the genocide. There is still a lack of doctors and hospitals: those Cambodians who can afford it, travel to Ho Chi Minh in Vietnam to see a doctor. The bus ride on the poor roads in Cambodia takes too many hours to Saigon, and the country has still no railroads.

I used to think that Thailand is a developing country, but after visiting Cambodia my perspective changed. When you enter Thailand after a visit to Cambodia, it is like returning back to civilization. Bangkok, as far as I know, has some of the best hospitals in the world.

I would not necessarily travel just anywhere in the world alone as a woman, but South East Asia is 100% safe to travel even as a woman alone. Cambodia and Vietnam are backpacker´s paradises and destinations where you see many women travel alone.

I was just almost killed by a green viper that fell down from a tree in the jungle of Angkor Wat when I was resting in the shadow from the burning sun. To my luck, the snake decided not to bite me, perhaps since I stayed still and did not move an inch.

That was my second near-death experience. The first one had been in Finland a couple of years earlier, when I was traveling by train from Eastern Finland to Helsinki.

There was a heavy storm, and suddenly trees fell on the train and its windows, including where I was sitting. If the train windows were not bulletproof, I’d be dead by now since a number of trees were slapping the window exactly where I was sitting. The train had to stop, and we waited for a couple of hours before we were evacuated and brought by bus transportations from the middle of the forest railroad back to our homes.

When I think back on these memories, I am grateful for being alive every day.