Perspective

There’s nothing like reality to bring you down to earth and realise how unimportant the small things in life are.

Since my last entry I’ve bemoaned my injury and its impact on my training for 6ft track. I’ve lacked motivation for training in general and have a plethora of other problems of the kind that seem, as they do to most of us, keep on dragging me down.

Relationship problems and the kids (both here and in Wales). May not be usual for everyone but it was, I stress … was, my usual.

This was all put into perspective on Thursday evening, February 6th. I got a phone call from my father in Wales to tell me that my nephew, Craig, had died. More than that, he was killed. Slowly and imperceptibly over a period of years maybe, but just as surely as if someone had driven a blade through his heart or fired a gun to his head.

Craig suffered from depression and schizophrenia. He had spent years plagued by the demons of his condition and living in constant fear of what he may or may not be capable of during his blackest moods. He took it upon himself during what was to be the last of his darkest moments to hang himself by his belt from a fence behind the house. He was twenty six years old.

He had a history of heavy marijuana use and more recently was affected by the effects of alcohol while on medication for his diagnosed conditions. Craig was a really happy child and though he may not have had the best of things, he was no different to many. We’ll never know if his drug and alcohol use caused those conditions or if he was predisposed and they were merely enhanced by those factors.

It was a tragedy while at the same time it was a blessing. I don’t say that lightly and I don’t mean to revert to cliché. Craig had been tormented for the greater part of his teenage and all of his adult life. The greater sadness is that I, my brother (his father) and many of my family are of the belief that he is now truly at rest. I am a Buddhist by nature and believe that we will see his mark somewhere, but not too soon I hope.

My point here is not to pay attention to drug use and how bad it is for us, etc. I’m hardly in a position to comment). It’s not that we should be more aware of mental illness and the effects it can have on people and their surroundings.

It’s this (and this maybe a little clichéd):

The next time you’re thinking of a member of your family, a friend or anyone one you haven’t thought of in a long time much less spoken to or interacted with, do something about it. Call them, write to them, e-mail them or message them on Facebook – whatever your preferred mode of communication is these days.

If you’re a runner, a tri-athlete, cyclist, whatever, though it may be the world to you (as it is to me), it’s really insignificant to the rest of the world and sometimes to those that you love. Pay these people some time. You never know when you’ll no longer have the opportunity.

This weekend, I will likely run from Dayboro to Mt Mee. Basically an uphill marathon through some pretty scenic countryside. Each step of the way, I will be thinking myself privileged to there, doing what I’m doing, in the surroundings I am in.

RIP Craig Davies, November 1982 – February 2009