I live in a smallish country town about 300 kilometres from Perth. Perth is the capital city of Western Australia and my favourite place to go in Perth is Kings Park.
The great thing about it is that I worked opposite Kings Park for 11 years and every lunch time I would go on a prayer walk. It became a real place of relaxing and spending time with God for me.
Kings Park is a great place for families too. There are so many walking trails, picnic spots and playgrounds for kids. When we lived in Perth we would often go as a family and have a great time.
These days I might only go once a year to Kings Park when I visit Perth. I usually spend some time there when I have some sort of conference or training in Perth. I grab an iced coffee at the kiosk and sit and just enjoy the view.
If you ever visit Perth I would encourage you to check it out. The views of the city and river are amazing. Here is a link to the Kings Park website.
What am most proud of? It would have to be the way I bounced back from being bedridden with Rheumatoid Arthritis (RA) at 18.
I was diagnosed at 12 years of age. It was life changing. Over the next six years it got to the point of being bed ridden. It mainly effected my feet, ankles and knees, but also effected my elbows, neck and jaw.
I can remember after a very bad period I went to see my Rheumatologist. I asked, “If I am like this at 18, what will I be like when I am older?” He told me it was better to accept this is how is it going to be forever.
Looking back I am both surprised and thankful to my 18 year old self. I looked at the specialist and said to myself you are no help to me going forward. I never went back to see him again.
From there I started researching diet and exercise for RA. I found a lot of people had success in European health clinics with fruit and vegetable juicing diets. People went in to clinics in wheelchairs and walked out off all medication two months later.
This gave me more hope than my Rheumatologist. So I dived in wholeheartedly and before long I noticed a big change. The pain reduced. The stiffness reduced. The swelling reduced.
From there I decided to strengthen my legs with cycling. I built up to 50 kilometres per day. Then I added weight training. Something I continue to this day.
Looking back I am so proud of that 18 year old young man. He could have accepted what the Rheumatologist said and stayed on a pension, but he chose to fight for a better life.
What am I most proud of? That I chose to attack Rheumatoid Arthritis and not let it win.
This is me when I was 25 after seven years of training.
What is your favorite hobby or pastime?
My favourite hobby has always been weight training. I started weights when I was 18 and I am still training in my late fifties.
When I started I was very skinny at 183cm tall and weighed 60 kilograms (kg). That is 6 feet tall and 132 pounds. These days I weigh 91 kg (200 pounds). It was a long slow process of gaining muscle for me. Some years I was only able to put on 1 kg of muscle. Some years none!
Weight training has given me so much. When I started I was crippled with Rheumatoid Arthritis. I would often use crutches to walk to my gym. Slowly over time that changed. Now it is not an issue.
One thing with my weight training was I was never tempted to take steroids. I always had to balance gaining bodyweight with how much my arthritic legs could handle. Slow gaining was better for me. I would put on some weight and then see if my body could handle it.
In the image above I am 25 years old. I had been training for about seven years. I have this image up in my gym to keep me motivated as I get older. I am planning to take the same picture when I turn 60.
So what do I love about weight training? There are a few things…
1. I love the pump from the blood in your muscles.
2. It helps me to be strong as I get older.
3. It helps me to control my weight as I age.
4. It has helped me overcome Rheumatoid Arthritis.
I have been on holidays the last few weeks since school finished just before Christmas. It has been a nice time to rest, relax and spend time with family. It has also been a good time to reflect and renew.
During some down town I was looking through some old photos and videos. I found an old photo of when I was in my mid twenties. I was very much in to cycling and weights at the time and I was quite fit looking for me. I also found an old video too that surprised and shocked me muscle wise.
It was interesting on how motivated I was in my training. I would train one hour a day in the gym four days a week and I would cycle 200-300 kilometres per week. I would train six days a week, twice a day and have Sundays off for rest and church.
It was amazing how my reflections turned back to that time and the fitness goals I was chasing. It may have been 30 years ago (wow time flies!), but I could remember the my tiny shed with my gym and the racing bikes I owned. The alarm going off every morning at 4.50am so I could train before work. My motivation was sky high.
This caused me to think about my faith and walk with God 20-30 years ago. I thought about the churches I attended, looked through my old prayer journals, remembered preaching my first sermon and the people who helped me grow in my faith. The passion and zeal I had for the things of God was off the chart.
Somehow in the midst of all of this reflection I could feel motivation and passion being drawn from the past. It was like I was being inspired and motivated by my younger self. The goals and dreams I had way back then became fresh in my mind again. Mentally it was like I was right back there again.
As I have reflected on these things I really think I have gained motivation from my younger self. I was desperate to be well from Rheumatoid Arthritis and now I am. Something I never dreamed could happen! I was desperate to grow in my faith and to serve God full time. This has happened too.
I am just thankful to God for all He has done for me. I really do not know where I would be without Him in my life. I am also very thankful to my younger self and all the work “he” put in to his training and Bible studies. It has given me a new burst of motivation to press on towards the goals that God has before me.
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