Sickness has plagued me this week - runny nose, pounding headache, dizziness and sore eyes. My wife tells me its nothing more than a “man cold”. My seven year old daughter has told me the same thing. I wonder where she learnt that?
I suggested that perhaps Mahe Drysdale was suffering some man illness too, but that can’t be the case I’m told, “he’s an Olympic athlete – you’re not!” However, the females of our household did point out that no Olympic women were moaning about Beijing Belly. That’s because they are women. Touché.
You have to admit that Mahe Drysdale’s single minded effort to aim for gold despite enourmous physical duress is an achievement. It’s a symbol of that old New Zealand adage that you never give up, despite the odds and despite being a mere man.
Though I will never be an Olympic athlete (unless of course they introduce coffee drinking) I can be equally single minded about achieving a specific goal. What surprises me is the number of people who have no particular goals in life at all.
Some time ago I made the fatal mistake of convincing myself that my 40’s and early 50’s would be my best years. But this isn’t true. Every year has the potential to be your best year. It just depends what you aim for in the present.
One of my favourite movies of the last 20 years was the Matrix. There’s a wonderful line where Morpheus says to Neo, “you’ve been living in a dream world…” Yet it’s frighteningly true in reality. We can live our lives based on a dream of what might be, yet in actuality we are dying by degrees in front of television.
On occasion I have wondered what drives people to achieve anything? What drove John Key into politics - a random decision or a single step? Why climb Everest? Why complete a degree? Because we are seeking a purpose and a plan for our lives.
Burnout for many people is the lack of purpose in the midst of apparently pointless routine. There are no goals or aspirations - no sense of direction and nothing to be single minded about. Yet this can change.
In all situations, those who have direction only have it because they took a single step. Drysdale climbed into a boat with oars and was hooked. Hillary climbed a small hill in his youth and found a new life. I stepped into a church and found a journey of faith.
What journey are you on? What are you single minded about? One step is all it takes. Perhaps you have been on a journey and stopped for some reason. It only takes a step to begin again. Just remember, a divine artist created you. Whatever steps you choose will make more sense if taken with the creator in mind. But the step can only happen in the present. Put on your shoes today, grasp a bit faith and turn a dream into a life.
Digby Wilkinson © 2008