On the 21st of March 1975 I was born in Lusaka Zambia. Rumor has it that I was born in the same Hospital as the Australian Rugby player George Gregan. That is in fact not true as I was born in the University Teachers hospital and George was apparently born in the Military Hospital.
In January 1980 my parents had to decide about my future and where I would attend a primary school. So two months short of my 5th birthday it was decided that I would be sent to Paarl Boys Primary School, where I boarded a plane for Cape Town with my two older brothers. My Grandparents lived in Paarl at the time and it made sense for them to send me to a great school where I at least had some family.
You may ask how I landed up in Grade 1 at the age of four? Well my Mother was a school teacher and she got me to Grade 4 level two years earlier. Paarl Boys Primary didn’t have a Boarding School, so I stayed with two different families. Those were incredibly important formative years for me and I thank God I was with great families who really nurtured me and gave me lots of love.
Being 3500 km away from my parents without a choice forced me to develop a “Survival Instinct”. It was the era before cell phones so I couldn’t just contact my Dad and tell him someone was bullying me at school. I had to sort it out myself and most of the time I did. I didn’t necessarily sort it out in the correct way, but it was sorted out.
When I look back now, I will forever be grateful for caring parents and great teachers who didn’t just see my naughty side but saw potential and circumstances. The fact of the matter is that my circumstances forced my inner survivor to come out. Nobody needed to motivate me as I had the inner drive to push myself to the limits in anything I attempted – except for school work of course.
I guess my inner survivor was forced to grow at a young age and that has helped me throughout the rest of my life. The reason why I am thinking out loud is because COVID 19 has put many of us with our backs against a wall. Are we going to come out with all guns blazing or are we going to lie down and moan about our circumstances? Many have lost their lives, many have lost their livelihood and many are struggling to make ends meet.
I truly believe every single one of us has a survivor spirit in us, and if there ever was a time to bring it out then it is now. What are you prepared to fight for? Your family, your house, your friends, your future or your children’s future? You need to find that Survivor Spirit and fight with everything you have.
God Bless and I hope this Blog will help you in some way…
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