Nothing to show, everything to share

Winning medals for coming first in races and or competition has always motivated me. I was never that pumped for silver or bronze but gold was where I had my sights set. I think it was possibly something of the time and also the teaching of my parents.

As I went through school I picked up a few and as I progressed in my rugby career I also picked up some quite special jerseys for various competitions I played in or won. By the age of around 25 I had more medals and jerseys than I had space to store them and I asked myself what am I doing with them, why am I holding them?

After the 2009 rugby world cup sevens I framed both my jerseys and gave one to my dad and one to Holly’s step dad. 11 years later the one I gave to Holly’s step dad burnt along with a load of other sports memorabilia as his shed burnt to the ground. Was I sad? For his loses yes but about my jersey surprisingly not and this has made me think a lot.

I actually have very little to show for the things that I have done and even the pieces I have (yes are nice) but they don’t really help people. (side note a friend saw my MDS jersey in the InnerFight consult room and that was all she needed to motivate her to sign up for the race, that’s quite cool)

I (and you also) however have everything to share, be it with your fiends, family, clients or even yourselves.

Yes images help to tell the story but the experiences that we have all had hold so much power when they are shared for the betterment of the many peoples lives.

The shirt that I ran my 30 marathons in sits on our office wall but in sharing my story to audiences around the world I feel I have been able to positively impact more peoples lives. By the same token the cycling jersey they cut off my body during my 2018 crash was never offered back for framing purposes, however my learnings from that crash have changed my life and I like to think the lives of others as I have relentlessly shared them since.

I’m cool with nothing to show and everything to share and I hope you are too.