Delivering Adventure How to help people through adversity with Jill Wheatley
How can we help others when they are experiencing distress? We have all been in situations with friends, family or clients who are experiencing distress due to adversity. These challenging moments can come when people have suffered an injury, illness, or are working through physical or mental discomfort.
When we find ourselves in these situations, knowing what to say, what to avoid saying, or how to act can be difficult regardless of how well intentioned we are.
In this episode we are joined again by Jill Wheatley who is going to walk us through some strategies that we can use to help people through distress and adversity.
Jill Wheatley is no stranger to experiencing distress herself. Jill experienced a freak accident while on a teaching assignment that resulted in a traumatic brain injury. This resulted in her losing 70% of her vision as well as a life-threatening eating disorder.
More recently, Jill’s resiliency has been tested once again when a fall ice climbing last winter led to multiple breaks in her leg and ankle.
Jill reflects on the lessons learned on climbing expeditions in the Himalayas and recovering from injury on how we can help others when they are suffering.
This is the second episode with Jill, and she continues to be candid and remarkable.
Key Takeaways
How can we help people through distress whether it be from injury, illness, discomfort or challenge:
Be empathetic: This means putting yourself on their position and trying to see the situation through their eyes
Recognizing Empathy Versus Sympathy: Empathy is understanding what someone might be going through while sympathy is feeling sorry or pitying them. Leading with empathy is a far more effective strategy to help people than sympathy.
Listening can be a Very Powerful Tool: We can often want to try to solve people’s problems when simply listening to what people have to say would be far more beneficial. Sometimes people just want to share their pain, stress and discomfort and be heard.
Acknowledge Reality: Acknowledging that people are suffering can also be beneficial. As Jill pointed out, when we are in a weakened state, we don’t necessarily want to hear that we are fragile, or under-performing. We also don’t want to hear that everything is fine.
Everyone is Different: When it comes to dealing with people, there is really no one size fits all strategy.
Guest Bio
Following a traumatic brain injury that resulted in life threatening complications and 70% vision loss which required 26 months spent between 7 different health care facilities in 3 countries, Canadian Jill Wheatley was dropped at Denver International Airport with no direction. The only sign she could see pointed to mountains. Despite such compromised eyesight, Jill chose to spend one year alone with Mother Nature in an attempt to find light on life’s trail. Her search led through 13 different massifs and upon running in the Annapurnas in Nepal, she knew that she wanted to spend more time among Himalayan giants. Essentially she has gone from being bedridden, to a wheelchair, then on to walking, navigating hospital parking lots to hiking, trail running, mountain running and skiing before climbing 5, 6, and then seven 8000 m peaks and spending the past 5 years based in Nepal.
In a story made for movies, Jill’s trail has recently connected to another type of climb when she had a lead fall ice climbing in February 2024 not long after shifting home from the Himalayas to the comforts of Canmore in the Canadian Rockies. With multiple breaks in her leg and ankle, she is committed to a full recovery and getting back to breaking down the stigma associated with brain injury, vision loss and eating disorders while encouraging and helping others get out to do wild things in wild places.
Guest Links
Jill Wheatley’s website Mountains of my Mind: https://mountainsofmymind.com
Instagram: @mtnsofmymind
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/mountainsofmy mind
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/c/JillWheatley
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