A community who lack belief!

When I was 17 I met Steve Bonaconsa. He had ideas. He had dreams. But more importantly he did something about them. I remember the first time he arrived in Durban to join our church as a youth pastor. One of the first questions he asked was “Does anyone mountain bike?” I immediately shot up my hand exclaiming “I do!” This was, in essence a lie. The funny thing was I had a mountain bike, but it was worth R500 or so and I had just recently gone for a ride in the cane with a mate - so now I was a mountain biker!

6 months later Steve took my comment seriously. He sat me down and asked me wether I would like to go for a ride. Around the World. He outlined a tour that would take us across 4 continents, 16 odd countries and about 16500km’s. His mission was to raise R1mil for a cause, which turned out to be children living with HIV/AIDS right here in KZN, South Africa. I don’t think I had ridden my bike since the first time I met him but I was in!

Inside of me I knew it was a no brainer. Why would any 17 year old turn down the opportunity to peddle across borders, meet people and change lives? Furthermore I knew it was possible. I simply believed that despite some of the route taking us through challenging environments, such as the Aussie Nhullabhor and parts of Africa.

Then it came time to present the idea to others. Those few months shaped my understanding of the world. People lack belief. They lack faith. They lack courage.

Every time I spoke about the tour I was met with challenges. “You’re to young!” they would say, or “never in a million years!” & “you won’t make it past day 1!” One person even challenged me on being a year behind everyone at Varsity!

The crux: My belief in a dream and my commitment to follow through mean that I was now in the minority.

1 year later, 18 December 1999, I returned home after successfully cycling the world alongside Steve, raising R1.7 million for our cause. Simply because we believed. We weren’t even cyclists!!

1. What do you believe about what you are capable of?
2. What do feel when you reflect on your dreams for the future? (hopefully a nervous excitement!)
3. Why is stopping you from doing something about these dreams?

Sadly, we live in a community who lack belief. Which means they lack faith. Which means dreams die. Which means the world stays the same.

Why not step into the minority... I dare you.
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Travis Gale has spent the last 5 years running his own development business in South Africa’s corporate world and is currently involved in various long term partnerships with clients across a number of industries. Furthermore he has travelled to conferences internationally hunting down latest trends and insights. Having cycled around the world and survived a tsunami, his passion for crossing borders often lends itself to an interesting blend of stories and insight. He sees himself as a ‘change catalyst’ and displays strength in facilitating insight into the right spaces. Find out more at www.appletreelive.com

Picture Life as an Appletree

One of my favorite questions is ‘Are you living for one and a half days of the week?’
So are you?!

At the tender age of 18 I wrote a metaphor for life called ‘life as an appletree!’ It has pretty much turned into a way of life for me (www.appletreelive.com), and I guess has challenged me to make sure that the answer to that question is never ‘yes...unfortunately I am’

The trunk is life. We move up the trunk through school, careers, family, assets and retirement, until we reach the top. We know there’s more than just the ‘ordinary’, and yet we cling to our comfort zone… our thick, safe, trunks.

Then there are apples. Apples represent the realities that we wish to create for ourselves; opportunities we know are for us. However, given that they lie at the ends of thin branches, we choose not to step out into a world of risk and fear to pick them. We stay on the trunk.

No-one wants to get to the end of their lives to find themselves sitting on top of their apple tree, looking down at piles of rotten apples lying on the ground, never picked.

Over the past 10 years I have realised that society seems obsessed with the trunk yet wants to step on to the branch. We are so focussed on ‘whats next’ - when are you getting married? when are you having kids? when are you having another? So it go’s on! The result is we are so focussed on the trunk that we miss apples. OR maybe we want to miss them... because they scare us. As much as humanity wants to be ‘happier’ they seemingly find it very difficult to break out of habitual patterns they find themselves in from too much time on the trunk.

Picking apples is scary business. stepping out into new realities, trying new things, doing something that scares us, broadening our minds. Those that live for more than and a half days of the week seem to have something in common - they have taken risks, they are pushing through fear and they are challenging their comfort zones. It seems to be a rush!

How many times do we hear the eulogy message?? Someone wishes they had done more, lived more?

So heres the deal. Today I challenge you to step out onto that thing branch, to pick apples and to begin a journey that will change your reality. I challenge you to find an apple, no matter how small RIGHT NOW. I challenge you to look at what comfort zones you have found yourself in and look at ways to break out of them.

Nothing significant is done in isolation

I picked up my bicycle a little while back headed for a ride down to the Durban beachfront. It was early and the weather was obliging with a gentle tail wind and a fresh bite in the air. As I turned onto the beach road I heard another cyclist coming up behind me. My mountain bike, with its off-road tires, often saw road cyclists zipping past with speed. The whiz of the tires and clicking of the chain grew louder. I waited for the cyclist to pass, but instead the cyclist closed in on me and sat on my tail slipstreaming off my effort. As the sun rose I could see 2 shadows riding closely together.

At first I was annoyed! Who was this person simply using me without saying a word? I tried to race away but the cyclist sat on my tail. I tried to ignore it, but I could feel this presence behind me. I was out here to train alone and this was simply getting in my way.

Then something happened. I came to a junction where I knew of a shortcut. I could pull off and lose this person. I didn’t. I kept to the road. When I felt myself starting to slow, I sped up and made sure I maintained a comfortable speed for both of us. My frame of reference had shifted. The fact that there were now two of us was in fact an opportunity. The rider was stretching me to endure longer periods without slacking, maintain good speeds and ultimately get more out of my ride. This was an opportunity. Two riders on the road were always better than one.

In many ways I would say that we are wired for partnerships. There is something beautiful about how we can come together and share our strengths and skills to be more significant. In fact, I have heard it said that your 5 year plan is actually based on the books you read and the people you hang out with!

In my own life I have realised that my moments of ‘independence’ have been stimulated by a few things:

• ego - hung on my point of view
• self esteem - unsure about what others think of me
• doubt - in what I have to offer

Having realised that nothing significant is done in isolation, I continue to ask myself, ‘Who is around me and how am I sharing my life with them?’ if the answer to that questions leaves you realising that you are secluded in the way that you live, I would implore you to seek out effective partnerships on all levels.

The cyclist did eventually pull up on my right. There, on a red cruiser, was a man whose shoulders had bent over with age. His grey hair stuck out from beneath his foam helmet and his thin legs beat down on the peddles with fervor.
“I get a pull whenever I can” he exclaimed, his voice worn out from all his years of talking.
“No Problem” I said “I’m Travis by the way…” with more compassion having seen his age.
“Mike Smith’s the name” he replied.
“How old are you” I asked, slightly rude but I wanted to know!
“76” he said, “I do my 40k every morning!” he proclaimed!

Guess you never know who you will meet and what significance they may have, should you open yourself up to those around you.