I attended a ‘Relay for Life’ overnight team event, which was held at the Canberra stadium athletics track when I was 10years old. The attendees were walking or running laps around the track to raise funds and awareness for cancer research. I ran and walked many laps and I was left mesmerised by one man in particular from the army. He was an absolute machine in peak physical condition and ultimately ran 45kms around the track non-stop. This event and man moved me emotionally and spiritually in a profound way. Since this day I attended my mother’s charitable fundraising events ever-more consistently and as of the past 15years I would always take the days of work to contribute to Australia’s biggest morning tea, and Daffodil day.
At the age of 20 I thought it would be a good idea to do the same and test myself. I ran from Canberra to my home town Yass 55km non-stop to raise funds. I made it in good time but unfortunately, I blew both my knees out. The soft tissue meniscus in both knees took over 3 months to recover. I was a silly boy as I had been preparing for the run on the grass at my local oval and hadn’t been any further than 15km training sessions. Ultimately, I raised a small amount from the local community and I saw that my grandfather was kind enough to write out a $2000 cheque.
When I was 20 I also took part in a hands-on roll with special needs kids, I worked 30+ hours on weekends with them for a decade. I deliberately did this to learn and ingrain ‘Service & Contribution’ into my character. I understood that this wasn’t normal behaviour from somebody my age during those years, but I knew the profound affect it was going to have on my character-development if I was able to hold-out. We must apply ourselves for an extended period to cultivate a TRUE habit.
What do you think this level of personal sacrifice has done to my mental, emotional and moral conditioning?
There were many times emotionally that it would have been far easier to be doing something else with my time; social activities with peers, girlfriends on weekends. However, during these times when it’s extremely uncomfortable I recommend to giving more, thinking about ‘what I have’ instead of ‘what I don’t have’ or ‘what’s missing’ cultivates an abundance spirit.
At age 30 I now embark on the next chapter of my contribution journey and have written out my first cheque for $2000
Ask yourself;
- What is a cause close to my heart that I can be involved with?
- How can I be better? Am I living up to my own standards?
- What is true for me? How can I do more?
In Service,
Dave Barrie