Lukim yu
This will probably be my last post before leaving for New Guinea and ten days on the Kokoda Track.
Tomorrow I'm driving up to Sydney for the Under 30s munch and taking care of some final details around town before flying out first thing on Monday morning.
I was thinking as I drifted off to sleep last night that a big part of the reason I'm doing this is because it's a challenge. A retired army general whom I met on the top of Mount Ainslie on Sunday afternoon said that when he did Kokoda as a Colonel in 1992, it was by far the most physically taxing thing he had ever done or has ever done. (Of course, he did it in six days and they carried all their own gear. I'm doing it in ten and I'm not carrying the food or tent or any of the communal gear.) Still, I'm a man who relishes a physical challenge and I know that this wil be an extraordinary thing to do.
Overall I am very happy with my life. I'm luckier than most people and I'm grateful for that (though I have to remind myself sometimes.) But all the same, in certain aspects of my life I sometimes feel I am living in mediocre times. I don't have anything to complain about really, but there are times when I feel a long way from exceptional.
Recently in my work life I have felt like this from time to time. I like my job, but I wonder at times if it's right for me, especially when I feel I am surrounded by people who are excellent at what they do. Likewise I remain in essence a religious man and that brings a lot of richness into my life, but recently I've felt more than a bit uninspired at times.
So when I face mediocre times, I seem to want to find something exceptional. If I feel average at work or at church, I may spend more time at the gym or find a new level of intensity in rugby, or I may seek to bury myself in subspace. It's a reminder to myself that I am capable of exceptional things.
I don't know if my trip to New Guinea and the various trials and ordeals I will face will shake me out of feeling complacent.
But I think I can safely predict that it will be anything but mediocre!