{"id":2831,"date":"2016-12-21T16:28:37","date_gmt":"2016-12-21T16:28:37","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lostinnorvana.com\/?p=2831&lang=en"},"modified":"2016-12-21T17:01:39","modified_gmt":"2016-12-21T17:01:39","slug":"moving-mountains","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lostinnorvana.nl\/en\/personal\/moving-mountains\/","title":{"rendered":"Every mountain top is within reach if you just keep climbing"},"content":{"rendered":"

Okay.. Where to begin? It took me about\u00a0six\u00a0days to find the courage to write this. I’m not exactly sure why, but the last four weeks have been a crazy rollercoaster and writing this is actually pretty emotional for me.<\/p>\n

(If you’re not aware of the competition I’ve been competing in for the last four weeks, than you might want to read\u00a0this<\/a> post first.)<\/p>\n

\"Fj\u00e4llr\u00e4ven<\/a><\/p>\n

Last Thursday (December 15) at 10:00 in the morning, the application period for the Fj\u00e4llr\u00e4ven Polar contest closed. After four weeks of campaigning as if I was running for president, the fight came to an end. I was SO relieved that I would be able to sleep, eat and communicatie with my loved ones again. I think I cried for 30 minutes, then went to the store to get cake and champagne and drove to the office to thank my colleagues for putting up with me for the last four weeks. Seriously guys, thank you for that. <3<\/p>\n

The moment the application period closed, I was in first place in my region. I still don’t exactly know how it happened, but on Wednesday afternoon the first place competitor from Belgian disappeared from the contest. Which left me in first place with 6000 votes ahead of the new number two. I have to say I was pretty skeptical about it all, since the official announcement still had to be made and Tiemen kept rising to a difference of 5000 votes on Thursday morning (well done!).\"Fj\u00e4llr\u00e4ven<\/a><\/p>\n

But Friday afternoon at 13:00, this happened. \u00a0There it was. The words I’ve been hoping for. My name was on the list of winners based on votes on the Fj\u00e4llr\u00e4ven official Facebook page. There was no way of denying it anymore now. I am a winner of the Fj\u00e4llr\u00e4ven Polar 2017 contest..<\/p>\n

\"Fj\u00e4llr\u00e4ven<\/a><\/p>\n

I must have been crying for three whole hours. As I was working from home that day, I tried to finish up my work, but I was pretty useless from that moment on. The entire weekend pretty much consisted of eating, sleeping and crying. I thought I would have a gigantic party to celebrate, but my body refused after this period of stress, no sleep and bad eating habits. Which was not helping the whole ‘dealing with emotions’ part either.<\/p>\n

But at least I can talk about it without having to cry now. And now it’s starting to settle in. I am going back home. Back to my happy place. I’m going to experience something I’ve been dreaming about for years.<\/p>\n

ALSO! As promised I donated \u20ac0,01 per vote to\u00a0Stichting No Guts No Glory<\/a>. And since I won, I doubled the amount. So because of every single person that voted for me, I donated \u20ac246,52<\/strong> to the foundation. I\u00a0sincerely\u00a0hope this helps the foundation with brightening up peoples lifes in 2017. (If you’d like to donate as well or get to know more about the foundation, please check out their website<\/a>!)<\/p>\n

\"Fj\u00e4llr\u00e4ven<\/a><\/p>\n

Here comes the hardest part.\u00a0I have to start thanking everyone who made this happen. Every single one of you 12326 voters. You made a dream come true. YOU\u00a0did this. You helped me run, jump, reach out and grab this dream by the balls. And I am forever thankful for that.<\/p>\n

\"Fj\u00e4llr\u00e4ven<\/a><\/p>\n

Please understand that this is not easy and I’m trying my best to do it right..<\/p>\n

The first thank you is for my boyfriend. Who has been putting up with me pretty much being glued to my laptop and\/or phone for four weeks, refusing to go to the cinemas with him, making him do chores around the house and walk the dog so I could work on my contest, fixing me up after my nervous breakdowns, emotional rants and keeping me motivated troughout the entire thing. I owe this to you, my love.<\/p>\n

Second: my Worldwide Polar Girls<\/strong>. Thank you for who you are. Even though we have never met, you are already friends for life. You’ve been a great source of inspiration for me and I’d like to thank you for your endless motivation, positivity, amazing personalities and being who you are. Even though not all of us made it, please stay true to yourselves and hopefully we’ll all meet up someday for the most amazing\u00a0group hug ever. Keep the dream alive!<\/p>\n