I have played organised sport since the age of five and cannot remember a time when it has not been a big part of my life. Some of the most important lessons I have learned have come from my sporting experiences particularly in leadership. Sport has also given me life-long friends with whom I share the special bonds of the journey of both victory and loss. My wife often reflects in amazement at the strength of these bonds and also the fact that distance and time never seem to weaken them.
I have been fortunate enough throughout my sporting career to have now played in over 30 internationals for Australia and each time is very special. This tournament however was just that little bit more special after being unwell in the lead up to the event. Late last year I found a tumour in my neck which had wrapped around my facial nerve. This meant a couple of operations and 6 weeks of daily radiation therapy to shrink what was left of the tumour.
For the first time in my life I faced an extended period without exercise and sport. I was confined to gentle walking for 5 months and at times I was too unwell for even this. One of the things I enjoyed most in life was no longer there. Health, fitness and exercise was my career, my business and now I was not part of it.
Health, fitness and exercise was what gave me the energy and drive to live life to the full, it gave me the power to push through the tough periods and also the ability to enjoy even more the great things in life. In short health, fitness and exercise can create boundless opportunities in life for all of us: we just have to grab it.
So to have this taken away from me even for a short period made me so grateful for the past and even more hungry and grateful for what lies ahead. The Touch Football World Cup was something I put in the back of my mind when I was first diagnosed, of something I was going to achieve, something to hold on to during treatment and something to strive for in recovery.
Last week as I stood arm in arm with my teammates singing the Australian national anthem before the final, I felt so proud and once again so grateful for what opportunities health, fitness and exercise can give.
It is hard to explain the feeling of playing for your country but you have this strong sense of not playing just for yourself but for all the people who have supported and sacrificed to get you there. My friends, my local club, my work mates and most of all my family have been the ones that got me there. Particularly my family who have had to make many sacrifices to allow me to chase my dreams and goals. They were the ones to tell me I could when I thought I couldn’t.
In life we are presented with opportunities everyday and each one we let pass can never be recovered. Ensure health, fitness and exercise are not one of the opportunities you let pass because if you grab each opportunity it can lead to so much more in life.
Be grateful you can make activity part of your everyday life because there are many people in the world right now that wish they could but are unable to. For me I am going to grab my opportunities each day and enjoy the rewards it brings.
