A Wise Man Once Said…

Today we were without power for most of the day. No electricity to run the sewing machine or computers, no internet, no running water, no phone. If there wasn’t stuff I wanted to get done, this would probably be my idea of paradise. I found Utopia elsewhere.

I remember when I was growing up; my Dad once said to me “no matter how smart you are, or how good you are at something, there will always be someone smarter or better at it than you, somewhere in the world”. I don’t know what I was doing or saying at the time to provoke what he said, but I’ve carried it with me through life since. The motivation was not to undermine my confidence, but more a matter of not letting me rest on my laurels and to always push harder for excellence in whatever I tried to achieve.

Without the luxury of electricity to power my need to get things done, I felt liberated to go and spend much of the day watching my children’s athletics carnival at school. Is there anything more awesome and amazing than watching your kids performing, whether academically, sporting or dramatically?? Is it just me who feels like their entire body will explode from the sheer pressure build up of pride? 

Future Cricket Legend

My son Ash, who incidentally is academically gifted, wants nothing more in life than to be a professional athlete, specifically to play cricket for Australia… to be even more specific – to captain the Australian team to an Ashes win against those stinkin’ bloody Poms (Sorry, Neil). And while I may mourn the fact that the world will lose a real “thinker” to what I might consider a trivial pursuit – I salute him for following his heart – for having a passion!

“Asho” is a born athlete, built like a whippet – lanky, thin and agile – but he’s also considerably smaller than his peers. When you see him lining up for a race, admittedly he’s the youngest in the group of under 15’s, two weeks shy of turning 14, you immediately think, he must be in the wrong age group. As much as he’s grown in the last year, he’s still what we used to call “little Ash”. He’s comfortable with who he is, and tends to be the first to make a joke. Today, as the high jump bar got moved an extra 5cm “hey look, it’s taller than me” – I have his second place ribbon for that event beside me. 

In fact, Ash came home with an impressive swag of ribbons including 1 first, 3 second and 1 third. He also was part of the 1^st placing relay team. His arch nemesis is a lad whose legs are probably a good foot longer than his, and has the build of someone several years his senior. By the end of the day, the winners circle became a no-brainer – 1^st place Liam, 2^nd place – Ash. You would think that a child of that age might get frustrated, angry or even jealous. But, no.

I’m proud of him for sure, I was NEVER any good at athletics when I was at school, but it’s not because he placed well or even because he put his heart into everything he tried. *Insert mother getting teary here* 

I’m so ridiculously proud of my son because as we sat at the dinner table with the family tonight and I looked at his exhausted face and asked “how are we going to get rid of Liam?” he smiled and briefly made a fist… laughed and said “I don’t want to get rid of him, I just have to get better”.

When I sent my husband a text message one day and said “how would you feel about starting an orphanage in Indonesia?” I had already established in my own heart that there would have to be some sacrifices, and big ones. One thing I was never willing to compromise though was the opportunities that were available to my children. Having committed almost all of our income to the charity and living way below the poverty line ourselves means I can’t afford to buy Ash decent running shoes, I can’t afford fancy sports clothing or the coaching he probably needs to get into the big league.

Ash rarely asks for anything, and he never would complain that he doesn’t have those tools that would benefit him in his journey. He just laughs and commits to changing the only thing he has the power to change – himself.

Sometimes our children teach us the most powerful lessons. In the spirit of Asho, I won’t give up on anything – I just have to get better. I’ll find a way to get him what he needs – as parents, that’s just what we do.

Already a Legend.

**Portrait photography copyright Cate Bolt.