Aiming for the clouds
In 1905, a squad of twenty-seven rugby players left the shores of New Zealand and headed toward the United Kingdom. What followed was the beginning of 120 years of rugby dominance1.
The Original All Blacks scored 976 points to 59, winning 34 matches out of 35, setting the highest of standards that would be refined and replicated for years to come, ingraining the All Blacks into New Zealand’s national identity.
A spark is all that’s needed
In 1905, New Zealand had a population of just under a million people, and when that original All Black team performed so well, I can imagine the sense of pride those people would have felt.
Sometimes all you need is a spark to set off a sequence of events that leads to something bigger. 120 years later, the All Blacks are the worlds most dominant sporting team, their pride as a rugby nation underpinning their success.
Something to be proud of
When Running for Resilience started, it quickly grew to a small community trying to save one life from suicide, as many times as possible. And as we found out that we’d played a role in helping a handful of people, our pride grew.
Over the next four years, our numbers have grown to more than 500 runners every week, with nearly 400 turning up any given Wednesday. Canberra is adopting R4R as part of its identity.
Have we started something
Aiming for a suicide-free ACT is a lofty goal, and while it feels like we’ve already come so far as a community, it also feels like we’re taking our first few steps. But has the last five years been a spark?
When Canberran’s look back, how will they view R4R? Will these last five years be the moment we decided to make a stand? That no one is destined for suicide. That all suicides can be prevented.
Has a movement started that all Canberran’s will be proud of? Will we point to the Arc de Resilience and say that’s where it all began? Will Canberra become the first suicide-free city in the world?
“aim for the highest cloud, so that if you miss it you will hit a lofty mountain.”
Māori Proverb
It’s fun to think about where R4R might end up, and while we’re serious about aiming for a suicide-free ACT, by aiming to achieve it one life at a time, whatever mountain we land on will be worth it… even if it’s in the clouds…
Just. Keep. Moving.
