ANNELI WESTER – THE LIFE RULES GIRL

5th of August 2011 I woke up on the summit of Muztagh Ata, 7 546 m. I had spent the night on the summit. Not like the soft guys - I had no porters, no guides, no camps or equipment on the mountain before setting off from base camp, no fixed ropes, no extra oxygen, and all alone. Hardcore style. Anneli style. 34 kg on my back when setting off from base camp. 13 days up and 2 down. The highest summit camp ever in hardcore style. World record. I was awarded as The Adventure of the Year. What I learned from this is that world records sucks. 

Honestly – fuck world records. Life is so much greater than records. Records are about accomplishment and that didn't bring me that magic pure happiness. I love finding out how I have to do and think to manage something. I also love when life is as simple and beautiful as in the mountains. And most important, to enjoy and feel the power of life. That’s what’s important. Back to basic. Me and life, we rule!

This is what I will focus on when I’ll try to camp on an 8000 m mountain. Same style. Me and life all alone. The summer 2012 I was in Pakistan on my first try but the snow conditions were extreme and it was too unsafe to go alone. I wanted to try on Cho Oyu in the autumn 2012 but Tibet was closed for foreigners. I’ll be back, for sure I’ll be back! 

During the autumn 2012 I started to write a book about my past. I have an extraordinary history and the book is about how I got back to life.

When I was young some bad stuff happened to me. Things that sometimes happen to young girls. Shitty stuff. I also had a very broken mum. She hurt me really bad. That was shitty too. But I’m a fighter so I kept going.

When I was in my teens I couldn’t handle all the crap anymore. My reaction was to run away. I was 14 years old the first time the police was searching for me. When i was 18 years old Interpol was searching for me. I lived in the subway in London. Dublin. Paris.

I also started to hurt myself. I tried to get help. I ended up getting seven years of the worst treatment in Swedish modern history. Strong medications. Punishments. Violence. And even torture. A shitty mess. I hurt myself even worse. I have more than 6,000 stitches. I poisoned myself severely, over and over again. I burned my fingers with a lighter. Over and over again. Yes, that's how I lost my fingers. But I’m a fighter so I kept going.

I was sent to another hospital. Far away from home. They were supposed to have special treatments. They did. They locked me in a cell like a criminal. They threatened me. They beat me. They refused to give me enough clothes or blankets to stay warm. They took my glasses so I couldn’t see. They didn’t let me contact anyone. Not my family. Not the authorities. Not a lawyer. After seven years on heavy medication they took almost everything away in one day. My whole system went into chaos. Both physically and mentally. 

My life was like standing on the shore of the Dead Sea. The lowest place on earth where humans can live. There are only two directions to go. Into the sea where no life can live. Or to start to climb upwards.

I chose death. I hung myself. I was found at the very last moment. Cut down. Unconscious and blue. 

Then there was only one choice left. To start to climb. And I did. 

I had permanent damage. Internal organs that didn’t work anymore. Others were still in the game but lacked power. My hands. All the memories. Mentally I was a wreck.

After a few months my body went into an even worse disaster. Some poison had long-lasting effects. My cells couldn’t rebuild themselves properly. It affected almost all functions. My brain. Balance. Memory. Concentration. My legs were a shitty mess. I could hardly walk down a sidewalk. A mess and a disaster with fucking everything. 

But I’m a fighter. I kept going. And that’s what I’ve done ever since. 

As rehabilitation I travelled the world and have today been to over 80 countries, I run those marathons, crossed the deserts, swam the Oceans and climbed the mountains. I also went to University and had my masters. Yes, I got myself a master of law – but no, I don't work as a lawyer. I have also studied national economy, rehthoric's, leadership, philosophy and religions among others. I lived life and studied dharma in my own way. 

In that book I wanted to describe my way back and hopefully my ideas could help someone else. I thought I was done with my past when starting to write that book but I was totally wrong. I needed to take three years off just working with myself, all my broken stuff and my past.

​That's where the greatest adventure in my life started. The journey into myself. 

I learned hypnosis and spent over 4,000 hours deep inside myself, I spent hours and hours with painting, doing yoga all alone, listening to music and other things helping me to connect with my depth. I also went on meditation courses in the Buddhist temples in the Himalayas.

I learned not to escape the feelings but to face them, without values, just accept them and ask myself what do I need in this. Over and over again I found a little girl who needed to bee seen and hold and I learned the tools to give her that myself. 

This far I have learned that compassion helps us love unconditionally, both ourselves and others, I have learned that everyone have their story and one day there was nothing left to forgive, today my ground mood of restlessness has changed into stillness and I have learned how to have faith in life and humanity again. 

During this period the internal organs that hadn't been working for over 20 years came back to life. The doctor's says my recovery is like a miracle, both physically and mentally. 

One day I will finish that book, until then life gets the space life needs. It feels like the world is calling. We'll see, I live in the moment and just let life unfold itself. 
 
2015 I was also ready for the mountains again. My plan was to go for to the mountain I've dreamed of so much, 8201 meter Cho Oyu,  in the summer of 2015  but then the earthquakes hit Nepal and the Himalayas and I needed to postpone it and went to Nepal to help instead.

After a year I had been to Nepal three times och to the Syrian border two times to help the refugees and had raised over 500,000 Swedish crowns. Since then I've been to Nepal several times and today I have 12 children who I pay the school fees for in Kathmandu. Today the amout is over 2 million Swedish crowns – 200,000 euro. 
 
If I manage to get up that mountain one day I will dance up there. Just me and life. The most beautiful dance the stars in heaven have ever seen.  Or I end up somewhere else, one never knows.  

At the moment my life is mostly a mix of working as a mentor and speeches around the world. I also hang in the hallways of the university world. Maybe I end up with some more master's, one never knows. I'm also letting companies rent my brain and sometimes I change the world a bit. 
 
And off course I'm hanging with life, that's kind of who I am. 

I do speeches all around the world and and can due to my over 7 years of travelling in almost 90 countries adjust to any culture or religion. If you are interested in a motivational speech please feel warmly welcome to contact me for any inquiries or questions!
 

Please remember – life rules! 
Anneli Wester