My Proactive Life!

I recently had lunch with a fellow I went to school with 21 years ago, and during the course of the conversation, he asked “What’s your indulgence“? I was stumped for an answer, as I could not think of anything in my life that I’d deem an indulgence!

I’m a practical person, enjoying what I have and not wanting for much (to the lament of the rest of my family who are asking where’s my ‘Christmas list’). Overall, I’m not sure I have any indulgences – I have a broad interest and can get stuck into many different topics, read various articles or books and have conversations with many different people on varied topics.

I’m wondering if I should adopt an indulgence in 2012 and see where that takes me. What do you think? What do you think my indulgence could be? More importantly…What’s your indulgence?

Now that my 2011 Black Dog Ride adventure is over, there are a number of people I need to thank for everything they did for me and my ride.

First & foremost I’m sending out a huge THANK YOU to my wife Eva and my boys. 2010 was an adventure and a wonderful event, however backing this up with another Black Dog Ride turned out to be an enormous sacrifice to my family in more ways than one.

In 2010 the event catalysed my decision to move on from my previous job role and let my life take a different direction. This year my goal was less about life-changing and more about enjoying a ride with great companions for a great cause. The ride, however came at a huge sacrifice for my family in both time and money. Although I had enough money to complete the ride, The necessary servicing of the bike plus loss of income for the two weeks put us behind financially – it also coincided at a time where I’m working less & being paid less than this time last year (all a necessary part of my future career journey). In hindsight it was probably not the best use of finances in our current environment.

The biggest saving grace was to change our journey to be home on Father’s Day – this was a great thing to do and one for which I am happy to have done.

Other Kudos

• I want to send out a big “Thank You” to Kim (mum on the trip) who drove the support vehicle and supported us as we rode. In truth I could carry everything on my bike that I had brought, but being able to put the soft panniers (containing my tent, sleeping bag and sleeping mat) in the car made the ride easier. Kim’s contribution to the ride is immeasurable, from providing advice, sharing stories or helping to get James moving in the morning! Kim undertook this adventure at great personal sacrifice and needs to be recognised for her commitment to the cause.
• I want to acknowledge DazzaB (who did an awesome job in 2010 with shooting on-bike video) who overcame the odds to be able to participate in the BDR this year. Dazza had carefully saved his pennies for months to be able to attend the ride, and unfortunately was struck with the flu part-way through. Dazza, it was an honour and a pleasure to ride with you again, it’s a shame you needed to turn back at Port Augusta.
• James, thanks for being there to help out with any mechanical issues for anyone along the trip. It was great that you were only ‘needed’ a couple of times on the trip so you could focus your time on riding. I am sure Peter from Hills Ulysses is eternally grateful to you, too!
• Rod, Thanks for sharing your story so candidly with us in Coober Pedy. As I’ve mentioned before, through our own personal stories do we learn more, teach others and invite others to become part of our world. You’re doing a wonderful thing with your group on Facebook and it’s a pleasure to have met you on the ride. It’s through people like you that help me understand depression even more.
• I’d also like to send a shout-out to Monty Hamilton from Telstra who’d arranged for the use of a Telstra Elite wi-fi 3G modem for the use by the NSW members of the trip (arranged through Tony Hollingsworth). This allowed us to blog, upload pictures, Skype with family members and keep in touch with Facebook, Twitter and email whilst on the ride. Thanks for supporting the Black Dog Riders, Monty (and the @Telstra Team!

No smiling! (from Validation)

I recently applied to have my drivers licence renewed at the RTA (Roads & Traffic Authority), and as part of the process, another photograph needed to be taken. I’ve gladly submitted a smiley, happy face in the past and thought this would be no exception, until I heard the words: “No Smiling, please”

I wasn’t sure I heard the lady properly, so continued to smile, until I heard her say: “No smiling, please. As part of our new facial recognition system you cannot smile”

What?!? I cannot smile? I’ve made it a feature of almost any picture taken of me that I absolutely DO smile! I was immediately transported to the the scene in “Validation” (see below) where Hugh Newman was asked not to smile and shown the poster that stated: “Absolutely NO smiling, smirking, humor or general gaiety permitted“. I honestly felt like I’d been transported right into the movie in the place of Hugh Newman!

My new pic

I stuck with my charming smile with the lady at the RTA, but she was having none of it! Once my photo had been taken, I spoke with her and she said that the facial recognition software worked best with a neutral face, not a smiling face. I am not sure I had my ‘best’ neutral face on for the picture but am happy with the result, in light of things – see for yourself with the picture at left. *cheeky grin*

I checked out the information on the RTA website, and sure enough, here’s what is says:

I LOVE the short film Validation and urge you to spend the 14 mins to watch it through. I found it extremely inspiring and try my best to make other people feel better each and every day.

My Water Bottle

As you may know, I took an opportunity to change my working situation (Many of you knew this – if not, you can read my goodbye message). In this former role I worked from home and had a fairly steady routine (even if I had been up until 2am on conference calls, or up for a conference call at 5am), and part of this routine was to drink 1-1.5L of water per day.

There’ve been days recently where I’ve felt ‘flat’ and didn’t have the usual amount of zing that I regularly have. For the most part my routine is now different, granted; but I am eating the same food, going to bed at the same time, and waking at the same time, so something else was missing – I wasn’t drinking enough water!

I am looking forward to what’s ahead both professionally and personally, and am relishing the opportunity to explore the wide world and where I could go next. However, I now need to ensure I drink enough water during the day to keep me on top of things!

Some of the benefits of getting enough water and staying hydrated:

• Improves mental clarity
• Improves organ functions (such as the heart, brain, kidneys, muscles and joints)
• Improves circulation
• Improves digestion

My recommendation for drinking water each day:

• If you know you need to get away from the desk at regular intervals, fill up a large glass and refill it when you see it’s empty. This works well when the tap is some distance from your desk
• If you don’t need to get up, fill a large water bottle (like mine, pictured) and top up a glass/cup each time it’s empty. I make an effort to empty the bottle by lunchtime.
• One note: There’s conjecture out there about not drinking before or during mealtimes as the water can dilute your stomach acid and slow digestion. I don’t usually drink during meals anyway but recommend you do what feels natural.

The world often conspires in ways to being things to your attention, and I feel that acknowledging these things is important to help spread the message. Here follows 3 tweets/blog posts that made me stop and think. Hard. About life, love and those that mean so much to us.

1. On Monday, I saw a tweet about The Last Post, read the first paragraph and stopped what I was doing to let it soak in. I have read a little more of the blog post in the past 2 days but not digested it all (yet).
2. Tonight, I saw another tweet from Sara Lucas (aka SassLucas), doing her bit to try and enrich the women & children of the world, and traced the tweet back to it’s owner, a lovely lady called Eden Riley:

   

   

   Eden’s blog post (Every Little Thing) is a real, moving story about the passing of her friend Vee’s husband one year ago. After reading the post, I then followed the link to Vee’s story titled Why You Where Here. Equally real, moving and a lovely tribute to one of the most important things in her life. I think both Eden and Vee are awesome, brave and courageous to share their stories.

3. ADDED 12th May: I could not let this one slip. I saw a tweet from my wonderful friend Francie Jones earlier today which fits right into the theme here of loss and living your life.
   Ben Pobjie recently wrote of his experience with depression (aka the Black Dog) in a post titled Crumple Zone. (Many of you will remember the Black Dog Ride I participated in as a member of Riding4Cause in September 2010). It’s but a small way we can begin to see what it’s like from the inside, from someone who’s been to the brink of suicide. It’s a powerful post that brought tears to my eyes and I offer it here as part of the theme of “living your life”.
4. Then, as a counterpoint to the above, here’s a blog post that I think sums up the nature of life for everyone I decided to photograph the reactions of my friends and family when I told them my good news – I’m going to be a dad! Please note this is NOT my blog post, but serves as a way of contrasting the loss for one person/family against the pure joy felt by others.

Life is a cycle. Things happen, they happen to everyone at different times, and whilst one person grieves, another celebrates. No matter what happens, you need to continue to live your life. Go out there and live it, love yourself, love your family and friends and don’t sweat the small stuff.