The Sanctuary: A Story Exploring Different Responses to Stress Set in a Health Resort in the Tasmanian Wilderness

By James Outhwaite

Nine professionals and executives are frustrated by the shattering of their dreams through the unforeseen forces. Each is currently feeling burnt out and has retreated to a health retreat in the Tasmanian wilderness for a week, in order to come to terms with the difficult choices they have to make.

They have many similarities:

They are all in their thirties. They have all been highly successful in their life and career to date. They have all been recently overpowered by events, with circumstances beyond their control. Their dreams now lie shattered. They are all, therefore, subject to severe stress.

After a snow blizzard cuts them off from the outside world, they are left to work things out for themselves. Events quickly spiral out of control after a suicide on the first night, swiftly followed by a tragic murder. Emotions run high, and feelings that are normally hidden in the private mind soon erupt to the surface.

Eventually, they elect a temporary warden, and he is initially successful in bringing things back to seeming normality. However, the pressure-cooker atmosphere soon reveals further underlying tensions, and the book explores differing reactions to the complex events that unfold.

In the totally unfamiliar circumstances, some discover inner strengths they never knew they had, some uncover emotional needs which they seek to fulfill, and some cannot cope. In one week, all are challenged by great tension and, in some cases, a resolution of their deepest fears and concerns. For some, new and lasting emotional relationships are formed. For others, complex career issues are clarified, but some lapse into a crisis of confidence.

For all, it is an unforgettable week, which changes their lives foreversome for better, some for worse. No one remains unchanged.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Xlibris AU
• Release date: Sep 30, 2016
• ISBN: 9781524517618

James Outhwaite

James Outhwaite was born in England, and gained an MA majoring in English literature at Queens’ College, Cambridge. This was followed by postgraduate studies in business administration at Bristol before he immigrated to Australia in 1966. He then undertook several further studies in organizational and applied psychology and diagnostic profiling. His fifty-year career has been split evenly between corporate executive life and management consulting. He was a human resources executive in three multinational corporations based in Melbourne before switching midcareer to management consulting and specializing in career counseling, executive coaching, and team effectiveness. His clients have been multinational corporations, professional service firms, large corporations, and individuals throughout the Asia-Pacific region, which he has traveled extensively. In the nature of his work, he has been deeply involved in stress counseling and in mentoring executives and professionals, which gave him the experience and inspiration to write this book in the hope that (in addition to providing a good read) it may help its readers to manage the increasing stress, which we all encounter in our lives, with more confidence. James has been married to his wife, Tatiana, for forty-five years and is the proud father of two children and four grandchildren, who live in Salt Lake City, USA, and in Sydney, Australia. In England, he lived in Warwickshire and Wiltshire. In Australia, he initially lived in Hobart and, since 1971, in Melbourne. He describes his main hobbies as golf, yoga, bush-walking, music, travel, and bridge.

Book preview

Copyright © 2016 by James Outhwaite.

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the copyright owner.

This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places and incidents either are the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to any actual persons, living or dead, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.

Any people depicted in stock imagery provided by Thinkstock are models, and such images are being used for illustrative purposes only.

Certain stock imagery © Thinkstock.

Rev. date: 09/28/2016

Xlibris

1-800-455-039

www.Xlibris.com.au

748481

CONTENTS

Preface

Acknowledgements

Map of The Sanctuary

Characters in the Book

Prologue

Act One

Chapter 1: Tom’s Journey into the Interior

Chapter 2: A Ramble in the Wilderness

Chapter 3: Dissension Over Drinks

Chapter 4: An Hour of Need

Chapter 5: Harry’s Solution

Chapter 6: A Delicate Environment

Chapter 7: An Anxious Breakfast

Chapter 8: Stan’s Ultimatum

Chapter 9: An Emergency Response

Chapter 10: A Return to Normality?

Act Two

Chapter 11: A Crack in the Foundations

Chapter 12: Stan Reawakens

Chapter 13: Two Loose Cannons

Chapter 14: Mark’s Emerging Plan

Chapter 15: A Crisis in the Wilderness

Chapter 16: Stan Threatens Rebellion

Chapter 17: A Gathering of the Clans

Finale

Chapter 18: An Unanticipated Development

Epilogue

Curse of The Sanctuary of Horrors

Bibliography

About the Author

To all those who are troubled by stress

at different times in their lives, in the hope that it may encourage them

and help them to find positive solutions to the issues they face.

PREFACE

Today, with the increasing pace of social, technological, and political change, the number of people experiencing severe stress is rapidly on the increase. Whereas a certain amount of stress has a beneficial aspect, in that it prevents complacency and keeps people energised in response, once the amount of stress increases beyond a certain point, many people cannot cope, certainly without some help.

In my fifty-year career, involved in both management consulting and corporate executive life, I have encountered countless instances of individuals being either temporarily or permanently disabled by stress. Stress management has, therefore, become a necessary survival skill. Unfortunately, in my experience, the ability to cope with stress varies widely from individual to individual. It was Joseph Conrad who wrote, ‘Given a certain combination of circumstances, fear is sure to come’, and most people have occasionally felt that fate is lined up against them, and whatever they do, they will not win.

Some people, fortunately, appear to thrive on stress and become stronger in the process of countering it. Others struggle initially but learn how to cope and again emerge stronger from the experience. Others, in retrospect, see it as a catalyst for necessary and desirable change but endure a painful rite of passage before they arrive. Many cope, with help, but survive rather than prosper. Others, regrettably, cannot cope, no matter how much help they get, and either wither slightly in their lifestyle or occasionally go under. As a German poet once wrote, ‘What you have experienced, no power on earth can take from you.’

With these thoughts in mind and having attended an excellent health retreat with my wife, I could see that a lot of stress elements could come together in such an environment, and stressed individuals could influence each other profoundly. Placing the mythical sanctuary in the depths of the Tasmanian wilderness (which I have loved with a passion for its pristine and remote beauty for decades) added an extra tension and symbolism, and then the removal of normally well-structured support systems tipped the balance of fear and irrationality further. Bearing in mind Conrad’s maxim that ‘given a certain combination of circumstances …’, the stage is set for some interesting developments.

As you will see in the book, the characters represent the full spectrum of coping responses detailed above.

One final word. This book is not meant to be a conventional thriller, with an action-centred plot. There is plenty of action at climactic points in the story, but the book has one over-arching story, comprising nine inter-locking individual stories, and a lot of activity is within the minds of the nine protagonists.

James Outhwaite

Melbourne

October 2016

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

This book would never have seen the light of day without the consistent support and constructive criticism of my wife, Tatiana, my daughter, Yolande, my daughter-in-law, Lalyssa, Ross Johnston,

and the tireless and professional editorial, publishing, and marketing team at Xlibris, primarily Rob Mercado, Cherry Noel, Joel Cobb and Jennifer Crane.

An Exclusive Health Retreat for Executives

and Professionals in the Tasmanian Wilderness

Over the past five years, The Sanctuary has developed an enviable reputation for helping stressed-out executives and professionals to escape from the unrelenting pressures of their daily existence and to spend a relaxing stress-free week in the heart of the Tasmanian wilderness remote from their normal frenzied environments. It aims to give participants a unique opportunity to stop the world and reinvent their lives.

Participants in the one-week programme are either sponsored by their organisation, or self-funded.

Facilities That We Offer (on either a group or an individual basis):

• Yoga or Pilates instruction and support (beginner, intermediate, or advanced)

• A personal Trainer, with a state-of-the-art gymnasium

• A physiotherapist and masseuse

• A clinical psychiatrist

• A GP specialising in the ageing process

• A ranger with an intimate knowledge of the local wilderness

• A nutritionist

• A librarian, with a well-stocked library

• Fine Tasmanian food and wine presented by Luigi, our Italian award-winning chef

The resident warden, William Lancashire, has ten years prior experience with the great hotels of the world chain and has been the warden here since the inception of The Sanctuary five years ago.

Apart from booking appointments with the skilled residential professional staff, there are regular presentations on all their areas of expertise. All activities are offered on a full daily schedule, but attendance at any event is entirely voluntary. In practice, most (but not all) participants take full advantage of the available facilities and expertise.

Here are some comments from our recent participants:

*This week changed my life. I have no doubt that I will now live longer and have a significantly higher quality of life. (R.N.T. Sydney Australia)

* The opportunity to stop the world and think quietly and in private about where your life is heading is very rare. My week at The Sanctuary gave me this, and at the end of the week, I set ten personal goals which will revolutionise my life for the better. (C.J. Los Angeles, USA))

• I was initially sceptical when I was sponsored to attend, but within two days, my eyes had been opened, and I gained a whole new perspective on life. Thank you from the bottom of my heart. (L.A. R. Auckland, New Zealand)

• Without this extraordinary week, I am convinced that my life would have drifted quietly into a meaningless oblivion. I am now totally re-energised, and I have created a lifestyle and career strategy which will give a dynamic structure to my life for the next twenty years. (T. O’H. Melbourne, Victoria)

Map.png

CHARACTERS IN THE BOOK

Resident Staff at The Sanctuary:

The warden – William Lancashire

The psychiatrist – Dr Ben Crankowicz

The GP – Dr Fred Nolan

The ranger – Charles Jenkins

The physiotherapist – Jim Pearce

The personal trainer – Al Garfield

The nutritionist – Denise Rouse

The masseuse – Jill Woolwich

The yoga or Pilates practitioner – Alison Lowe

The librarian – Yvonne Dubonnet

The chef – Luigi

Participants in the Week’s Programme:

Tom Banks – a marketing director, later temporary warden

Dr Jo Davison – an associate professor in English literature

Les Forbes – a human resources director

Bill Malleson – a recently retired test cricketer

Christine Cumberland – a divisional general manager

Eric Young – a project manager in the banking sector

Mark Oliver – a project manager on a major mining site

Dr Stan Moorehead – a research scientist

Harry Williams – a quality control engineer

PROLOGUE

‘Each man is questioned by life, and he can only answer to life by answering for his own life; to life, he can only respond by being responsible. Being human always points and is directed to something or someone, other than oneself. The more one forgets himself, the more human he is and the more he actualizes himself.’

—Victor Frankl,

Man’s Search for Meaning

‘We are our stories. We compress years of experience, thought, and emotion into a few compact narratives that we convey to others and tell to ourselves.’

—Daniel. H. Pink,

A Whole New Mind

Act One

‘The moving finger writes, and, having writ,

moves on; nor all thy piety or wit

shall lure it back to cancel half a line,

nor all thy tears wash out a word of it.’

—The Rubaiyat of Omar Khayyam

Chapter One

TOM’S JOURNEY INTO THE INTERIOR

As the helicopter relentlessly bored onwards towards the central wilderness area of Tasmania, Tom Banks found himself agonising about the purpose of the week that lay ahead at The Sanctuary, an exclusive health retreat in the middle of the Tasmanian wilderness. The vision splendid was that he’d have a week off from his hectic