Written Saturday 17/11/2007

SACRIFICE

I wrote the below piece a few weeks ago and haven't put it up yet,  and am glad I didn't until now.  It's been a momentous few weeks for this particular household,  number two son,  and school vice captain being named dux of his college a week or so back,  daughter,  who has skipped a year just missing out on dux of year 11 after being dux of year 10 in 2006 and number one son doing very well,  in fact as he said on Thursday just gone,  "smoking it" in his engineering degree at Uni.

Thursday just gone signified the end of another era,  as we farewelled the year's seniors at a graduation mass in the morning and the valedictory dinner in the evening,  very moving occasions,  amidst the realization of just how short life is,  what a gift this life is,  and also shrouded in the hope that we have done enough for this next batch of youngsters,  entering the next phase of their lives.  In fact,  a reminder of just what a gift life is was delivered to us at the valedictory dinner when one of the young ladies in the senior class delivered a tremendously moving address.  Seemingly another normal young lady,  her key difference being that a month or so ago she was diagnosed with cancer.  What a speech,  what a message,  not too many dry eyes in the house I can tell you,  and rightly so.  And was her speech and message negative,  not at all,  an understandably emotional message of positivity for her,  for her friends and her school and teachers.

The piece below is testament to these young people in my house,  there has been plenty of sacrifice,  and a strong balance in what they do.  People have congratulated my wife and I,  we had little to do with it,  the congratulations goes to the young folks involved,  they did the work.

And to finish my little extra bit,  I need to say something about the school itself.  We chose this school years ago because we could afford it,  now that we could afford any school,  we wouldn't have them anywhere else,  the philosophies and ideologies of the place are second to none,  the headmaster a great man leading the development of young people.  I continue to draw strong messages from his inspirational speeches each year.  Suffice to say the kids wouldn't have gone anywhere else either,  a few times things have been offered,  and they didn't want to leave where they were.

I am not the only one saying this about the school,  as I moved about amongst parents on Thursday,  everyone of them made comments along the lines of,  "isn't this a great school" and "isn't he a great headmaster".

This is a bit of a story that has nothing to do with rugby,  but at the end of the day,  has everything to do about rugby,  and life in general,  if you pick up the message! 

Years a go,  I was with my chiropractor,  a very successful man of my own vintage that is exceptionally good at what he does,  and has developed a very successful business and practice that allow him to do whatever he wants. 

He has also moonlighted in speaking,  motivational type stuff,  and it was one of these topics that we conversed on years ago,  and relevant now,  yesterday,  and in 100 years. 

After a speaking engagement,  he said a particular chiropractor approached him and said,  I’m not doing as well as I’d like,  what secrets of your success can you pass on. 

My Chiro thought about this for a moment and said,  tell me about your practice,  how does it operate. 

The other guy said,  same as everybody else,  I open up at 8:30 and close at 5pm,  Monday to Friday,  I’m just not getting where I want to be. 

My guy thought about it for a very short time and replied,  well this is one of the things I do,  I open at 7:00 am in the mornings,  and people can visit before work in many cases.  This is a very busy time for my practices.  The other guy said,  oh no,  I couldn’t do that,  that is my family time. 

OK then my Chiro said,  we also stay open until 7:30pm at night,  people can visit after work.  The other guy said,  no I couldn’t do that either,  I am in rotary,  and I play squash and tennis,  all at night time. 

Well my guy said,  we open Saturday from 7am until 3pm as well,  and Sunday afternoons from 2pm until 6pm.  Ah the other guy said,  I play golf then,  I couldn’t do that.   

My guy finally replied,  “well you are not serious about increasing your business then,  you won’t make any sacrifices”.  Since then,  my chiro has gone on to still having his business open those hours,  but working himself the hours he wants,  I think if you are lucky he may be there Monday,  Wednesday and Friday morning,  but he has people working for him now with the same ideals,  doing things the way he wants them done,  and he still really enjoys the contact. 

So by making the sacrifice in the early stages,  he has increased his time freedom and his financial freedom ( I can vouch for both because I am fussy and will only see him,  so have to work into his hectic social and work schedule) 

Key message,  and I have never forgotten this story,  sacrifice can help with success,  success will be almost impossible without sacrifice.

THE HARDER I WORK,  THE LUCKIER I GET!