When I was a lad in my final year of school there was a teacher there who constantly paced during lessons, he never stood still. When he had no classes he would run everywhere, around the oval reading notes, marking tests or doing study preparation. I would see him running during recess, at lunchtime he ran with a book, and he was always out there at home time, rain or shine. Before I left school I drummed up enough courage to speak to him about it and I’ll never forget what he said. ‘They said if I didn’t start exercising that I’d have a heart attack and die!’ Death was new to me and I must have looked shocked because he ruffled my hair and smiled. ‘Yes I’m fanatical about running, it’s become my life,’ he confided. ‘I’ve won lots of marathons – now it’s all I do! If you want to become successful, my advice is to start early, become fanatical about it, become absorbed in what you do. You’ll be surprised where the journey takes you.’ I never knew his name or found out what happened to him, and for all I know he could still be at the school running around the oval with a sandwich in one hand and a book in the other.
So here I am, I posted that message as I got my web site up and going at 14:47hrs on the 8th October 2006. All I can say is the learning curve is still just as steep, and I am still learning the rules of writing. The one I like the most is that there are no rules!