The grip of my shoes was nonexistent and I skidded as I ran for the tube. I threw my arm through the closing doors. For a second, I felt completely disembodied

Sexualising my lower digits was bad enough. To be given the equivalent of a pat on the head and told ‘nice try’ was an indignity too far

After a season of loss and sadness, scuba diving had brought me some peace. When the beast burst out of the wreckage to join me, it provided an invaluable lesson in perspective

When I boarded the train at Beijing I felt timid, a cautious traveller. But a chaotic and vodka-soaked party set me off on a very different path

My first and only proper relationship ended the day after Princess Diana died. There followed years of dalliances and situationships, before I realised something crucial about myself

I had felt self-conscious for so long, but then I held my breath and put my head underwater. It was the start of a slow, determined journey back to my own body

After cancer, my health anxieties kept me awake at night. But when a marauding moose put paid to our well, our only source of water, I felt my mindset shift

She hadn’t lived in India for 50 years, but her last request was to be returned to the place of her birth. On the banks of the Ganges there were tears – but also all the chaos, hustle and humour of life

After escaping the deadly attack at the Manchester Arena with my son, I suffered with survivors’ guilt. So I decided to do something positive to help

Running had been my identity, my career, my life. One beautiful spring day, I realised it wasn’t enough

A bloodstain here, a wonky seam there: it had its flaws, but so do I. And I’m absolutely fine with that

Without the van, my husband and I had no urgent reason to live in Wellington. The short European adventure we had planned soon became much more

Seven years after a terrible fall, I teamed up with two other disabled sportsmen to scale Iceland’s highest peak. With each drive of my poles into the snow, I came closer to the man I’d once been

I decided to try everything I had ever wanted to do: standup comedy, speaking Spanish, running, swimming and sailing. On the other side of fear, I learned, lay all the best experiences

After taking a DNA test, I had lots of questions for my mother. But it wasn’t until we took our conversations outside, working together in my scrubby yard, that I began to get some answers

When my relationship imploded, I chose to remain alone and isolated. It was the start of a new, much happier life, in which I became the safe place I could always return to

After witnessing the deadly attack, I struggled with daily life and lost my passion for running. At the Frankfurt marathon, six months later, the emotional toll caught up with me

As a judgmental 10-year-old, I was shocked and ashamed when I walked in on Mam with a client. Decades later, I realised what a remarkable woman she was

Stalking was making my life at McMurdo Station a misery. In the ice-covered sea, I discovered how much the world still had to give

When Mr Tienh offered to treat me to lunch, I declined, embarrassed, assuming he couldn’t afford it. This insult to his dignity led to a flash of insight that would last a lifetime