Getting on with it!

I’m certain the earthquake that devastated Japan yesterday is on everyone's mind. It’s hard to get excited about going to Beach Patrol at Southport SLSC when so many people are suffering in so many places. Going to patrol is usually one of my favourite things. I enjoy my bit of community service immensely. It makes me feel good.

But we can’t sit around getting morbid about things we can’t control. I will do a little mental trick a friend taught me when things like this start to dominate my thoughts. I imagine pushing the thoughts away and say to myself “That’s not my stuff”. It’s amazing how powerful it is. I invite you to try it. The next time

something you can’t control overwhelms you, stick out an imaginary hand to push it away and say to yourself, “That’s not my stuff”. Get rid of the stuff you

can’t control and work on the stuff you can.

I know it’s hardly rocket science. But it took me a long time to learn it.

How Surf Life Saving helps me stay healthy

My first contact with Surf Life Saving was the same as many people's. I had a child who attended most Sunday mornings. I grew up in the outback mining town of Mount Isa. Needless to say not much surf to save lives from. We have been members of Southport Surf Life Saving Club for over 10 years now. I must say that for most those years I have been happy to stand in the background and do the occasional odd job. Gillian however has always been involved, looking after State squads, organising uniforms and even for the last couple of years being an Age Manager.

About 4 years ago I decided to do my bronze medallion, this was by no means an easy goal for me. In fact it took me 8 months to get my weight down and my fitness high enough to give the Bronze Medallion course a go. My other Goal for the year was to complete the "Bridge To Brisbane" 10k run. So on the Saturday I did my 400 Metre swim in 7.20 minutes and on the Sunday I did the Run in 1 hour 18 minutes. All with a bad cold.