This has been a year of big change for me – down 50 kilograms now and on the weekend just passed, I participated in The Bloody Long Walk, a fundraiser for mitochondrial disease.
It was a 35 kilometre course and I chose to run it. I came in eight out of 1200 participants, in 3 hours 56 minutes. Writing those numbers is not so much a brag from my end as a mix of amazement and pride.
Let me explain why, and maybe you will relate….
Have you seen that app doing the rounds that takes your photo and ages you? I had a play with it last night – uploading my photo was simple. Getting my head around the results – not so much!
I looked like my old man, and Tricia’s photo looked like I had pretty much married my mother-in-law …. well, that was a mix of a chuckle and a gulp.
The reality is that time is marching on.
And with that comes change.
Some change is beyond our control – but how we respond to it, well, that is always in our control.
As I increased my walking, I found I was feeling better in myself – an even better boost than my anti-depressants ever gave me. Then I started wanting to challenge myself, so I started walking gullies and mountains for 10, even 20 kilometres.
The next step was a little shuffle instead of a walk and then getting some tips from a mate – Ben Love, about how he tackles trail running. I did some reading and listening, got some better shoes. Before I knew it, my best mate was calling me Forrest, and I had just finished a Sunday morning run of 35 kilometres with my wife and kids cheering me across the finish line.
We are all going to face changes and challenges in life. Getting up and having a crack will always feel better than never having a go.
Asking for help and being prepared to take on some good advice from someone with experience, it will always give us a better chance of success.
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Sharing your ups and downs with mates who will listen to us, encourage us and still make jokes at our expense, well, that just makes life better all round.
That’s what we always aim to do, here at Churchill: listen to you, give you the best of our experience, encourage you and have a laugh with you.
This week, we’ve been chatting with people working on changing their career paths. If that’s you, remember, you don’t have to go it alone. And we’ll be here to back you up, work on some great career transition qualification strategies and cheer you all the way across the finish line.
That’s it from me …. I’m heading off to give a career transition presentation today. If we can ever help you out with a presentation at your workplace, let me know.
Randall Smith
Co-Founder
