What is your DTE??

To the majority of people who look at this photo would just see a lake. A catchment of water surrounded by trees.
There are another small group of people who each day see a lake, but rather than it just being water, it is where their dreams come true. This DTE( daily training environment) is where they train, correct technique, learn, perfect and give sweat, determination, commitment and passion day in day out.This lake where a small number of athletes train,is what prepares them for the biggest sporting events if their lives- World cups, world championships and the ultimate-Olympics.

What is your DTE?

Your work office
The kitchen table where you have your study books
The weights room
Sporting field
The library

Whatever your DTE is and wherever it may be, don’t under estimate the potential you have to develop something and someone incredible there.

We can allow ourselves to grow in our environment, or allow ourselves to be contained and shrink in it…the choice is ours

Be brave in your attempt

I was recently at a Special Olympics function.
One enthusiastic athlete who had Down Syndrome inspired me.
Her attitude toward life was incredible.
She shared her experience of being an athlete. In sharing she said to the audience ” we all have a struggle in life, we all have some thing we need to overcome. We can think ‘poor me’ or just get on with life and make the most of it”
Her passion and tenacity to make the most of her life and opportunities inspired me.

She ended her talk with the Special Olympics Athlete oath

” Let me win, but if I cannot win, let me be brave in my attempt”

I don’t know about you, but after hearing this oath…I want to make my life oath what these Athlete do- be brave in my attempt at life

Whatever you face today. Your struggles, your disappointments, your ambitions and goals…be brave….be brave in your attempt!

Momentum will keep you going

I have recently starting cycling. Who would have though there would be so much to learn?
One thing I am learning very quickly is the best way to get up hills!

If I do not create momentum before ascending it is so much harder to make the top.
When I first stated riding I would proceed down a hill with caution, often with my hands gripping the breaks to avoid flying down the hill too fast. It did not take me long to realise however that I need to let go of the break, ignore the fear I would fall off and actually embrace the speed. In doing this was actually assisting myself to get up the upcoming hill faster and with more momentum.

We cannot achieve In life or reach the summit of our dreams and desires with caution. In order for us to get to then top of our achievements we need to, like riding a bike ignore fear. decide we are going to fly down the steep hills so we can with greater efficiency get to the top.

What are you holding the breaks on In your life? Do you need to let go of fear and insecurities so you can gain momentum.
Momentum does not remove the challenging hills and obstacles in your path, but by creating momentum in the easier, “flatter” parts of your journey, when everything is as easy as riding down a hill. When the tough times come, you will have created the momentum you need to get through the “hills” with greater ease.

Momentum will get you to the top, it will sustain you.

Momentum is what will keep you moving!!

Just give it a try…

Impossible, said Pride. It’s risky, said experience. It’s pointless, says reason… But just give it a try, whispered the Heart!

Little by little, a little becomes a lot

The last two days have had a profound impact on my life. The Sydney to Hunter Cycling classic was more than just a 240km bike ride.

One80TC is an incredible organisation that I have supported for over 5 years. They provide a residential program which helps support young men wanting to overcome addiction and life controlling issues.
The purpose of the ride was to provide much needed funding to provide ongoing financial support to this incredible organisation ( I may need to write a follow up blog about the ride itself so stay tuned…but this one will be about the power of our “little”).

I’m so glad that when I made the decision many years ago to be a supporter of One80TC that I chose to commit to the lives it impacted no matter what. I could have easily looked at my small contribution and thought…does it really matter, could my little really make a difference?
There have been many times where financially I have struggled so that that I have not had enough for groceries, enough to pay my bills…but I chose to continue to give.
I don’t share this to make myself look like a good person. But I share it because I have learnt that the little we each contribute matters. Your little and my little combined…becomes a lot.

I may not be able to give as much as someone else, but my giving matters. Over the weekend I realised how much it mattered and I am so so glad I never gave up on giving my little.

I met young men over the last couple of days who have been forever impacted and changed because of One80TC. The impact on their lives changes their generations to come. The cycle of addiction,hopelessness,lack of identity and abuse stops with them….because they choose for it to stop with them.what incredible courage these men have! People like this are truly my heroes.

They refuse to allow their past and present situation to define the rest of their lives. Not everyone makes it through the program and many will take one step forward followed by five steps back…but they are choosing to try,choosing to change and choosing to rely on strong people around them to help them on their journey.

There is something incredibly impacting when men come up and hug you. Look you in the eye and thank you for saving their life. Literally saving them from an inevitable death their lifestyle is leading them to.
I cannot begin to explain in words what that means. How profoundly impacting that is…my little bit matters in saving lives, in rebuilding futures and changing generations.

What is your little bit? Where can you contribute your little?
Don’t underestimate the power of your little

My thoughts from the Cemetery

It is Fathers day and I Just returned from my Fathers grave. My Dad passed away 19 months ago….but if I’m completely honest with you. It feels like a minute ago that I was told the words ” he is gone”

In a society where there is a great lack of a positive and good Father role model, I count it an absolute privilege and honour that I can say My Father was an incredible man.He truly was and is my hero.

So today and in the lead up to today I am reminded of what I once had but now dont have…a Father.
Nothing I do will change is reality. I don’t like this reality, I don’t want this reality and I get so upset and frustrated by what I don’t have. But the truth is, I cannot change it. Despite my irreplaceable loss I need to continue to live.

Although my loss is one I never caused, deserved and expected it cannot be my excuse to not do things in life that I am designed to do.
So often in life we use what we have lost as an excuse to: not try, give up early, live passively, not get involved.

So what are you missing out of because you are choosing to not get involved, not try again and not step out. No one can make this step for you. You are in control of your life and have no one to blame but yourself if you fail to live the life you were created to life…and that to me is so incredibly sad.

I have a confidence that if I could speak to my Father today on Fathers day that he would have no regrets. He lived a incredible life. On many occasions made decisions that his family and friends perhaps did not find easy to accept or understand, but my Father was being true to himself. He was creating a future through his daily decisions that shaped not just himself. but his marriage, friendships and children. The decisions he made many years ago have shaped the generations to come.

I look at my fathers grave with a mixture of both sadness, pride and joy. My fathers life has ended, yet his legacy will remain for the generations to come…..you get to decide what legacy you will leave to your generations…only you can decide that!