When someone calls me ugly I get super sad. And then I give them a hug. IT MUST BE SO HARD TO BE VISUALLY IMPAIRED

Now and then I receive a message that upsets me. 

It shouldn't get to me, because I know people that spend time actively trying to be nasty aren't worth spending any time on.

But it still hurts. I'm human.

I've always liked to take any kind of energy and turn it into something more positive, so here's how I deal with the haters. A page for people who just need a big hug.

The 'you can't do this'

I don't get many of these, because of course I can bloody do it. But right back at the start when I was planning to skateboard across Australia, I received a letter from a stranger telling me that it couldn't be done, that his mates were taking bets on how many days it would be before I ended up in hospital with serious sunburn, that I'd be spread along a road by a big truck, and more. 

It was so good I started my first book with it. 
You can read the letter for free by clicking the cover on Amazon.

The 'you're not who you pretend to be'

I received an email from a man who I may have met for two seconds after I gave a talk at the Kendal Mountain Film Festival in 2014, but I don't remember him. His email said that he'd put aside three months for us to adventure together in 2016, which seemed a little presumptious. 

I kindly told him that I didn't ever travel with strangers and that I didn't plan my adventures so far in advance, to which he replied with at least 100 things that he didn't like about me. 

He may not have been the ideal travelling companion, after all...

The 'one star book review'

Man, to spend the best part of half a year writing a book and then some stranger has the audacity not to like it. That's totally fine, there are some people who don't even like Harry Potter. But when the review gets a little personal and unfair (considering the reviewer doesn't know you and is therefore making assumptions), that tickles in the wrong places.

I did like that he did it under his own name rather than anonymously, so offered him a refund on the book. He refused.

The 'Photoshopper'

I used to be a graphic designer, but I was so bad I gave it up and skateboarded a few thousands miles. So bad at graphic design was I, that it would have been impossible to follow through on what one chap suggested, which was, in his words: 'I've spent a long time studying your website and I've come to the conclusion that you've never done anything, except for making all of these adventures up on Photoshop."

An extra big hug for this one.

The 'YOU'RE SO VAIN YOU PROBABLY THINK THIS CRITICISM IS ABOUT YOU'

My biggest worry about venturing off from a typical office-based career and chasing a life of adventure was the self promotion. If the idea of being your own brand doesn't make you want to vomit all over your non-existent desk then there's something wrong with you.

Now and then some madly uncontrolled ball of emailing and social media vitriol pops up in my community, and often I get a concerned friend forwarding a message from the aforementioned Internet Monster. Here's the latest one:

"Dave Cornthwaite is a motivational speaker so full of himself I'm shocked he does not sell videos of him kissing himself!" 

Ok, I admit, that one was pretty funny! It is genetically impossible for a ginger to love themselves, isn't this common knowledge? A little less funny was that this person then continued to attack my girlfriend. Ooooh that made me mad.

The next day this very same Internet Monster applied to attend a filming and editing workshop I host at home! The cheek! Now considering saying yes to them only to spend the entire session kissing my iPhone when on selfie mode.

The 'Out of Context'

A friend of mine wrote a blog about how adventure was being used as a marketing tool for evil companies. I had nothing to do with the blog but in a comment underneath I was assumed to have been the inspiration for the blog. The insinuation was that I'd sold out. 

That made me sad, so I wrote to the person and gave them my phone no. because I don't think anyone who has taken the time to talk about me thinks I've sold out. They didn't call, maybe because they were out looking for hugs.

The 'you'll never amount to much'

I remember the careers advisor at school looking through thick rimmed spectacles and suggesting that my 'scores' didn't bode well for the future. 'You should probably do maths,' he said, and when I responded saying I hated maths he countered with, 'well, you have a lot of low grades, but maths is the highest of the low ones, so you should at least give it a go.'

For all the careers' advisors out there who don't care much for their job, you're at the front line of having an impact. Use your power wisely!

If you like the creation of sunshine from even the darkest clouds, you might like to book me as a speaker. These guys did :)