Wise words from a Scottish caddie!

Gail force wins, sleet & hailstones - thank goodness my training plan had this down as a rest day. However it won't mean my son misses his outdoor athletics training tonight - that'll toughen him up! I had a yoga practice this morning and as usual, following a running weekend, I was as stiff as a board. It's like 1 step forward, 2 steps back but I knew that after the practice I'd feel the benefit of it and if I keep this up all week, which I will, then the results will be so worthwhile. That's the thing about training. Sometime you really can't be bothered especially if it involves getting up on a dark and cold wintery morning. But that's when you have to question "why am I doing this?" I've explained to anyone who will listen that to achieve something worthwhile you have got to have a reason, a desire within you or else you'll give up when the going gets tough. My reason for going through the hours of training / pain is to raise money for Maggie's Cancer Caring Centres and this afternoon I visited the Glasgow centre. I had a cup of tea with two of the fund raisers and the boss of the centre. Everywhere I looked people were smiling and engaged in conversation. Not a sad face in the building. It took me a few minutes to realise that those smiling faces were on either cancer patients or family members of cancer patients. This is because the whole ethos of Maggie's is about life, not death. We'll all die one day and getting cancer isn't necessarily a death sentence. A positive attitude helps and in the wonderful, beautiful Maggie's Centre there was plenty of that around. I'm sure it's not easy to be positive when tackling cancer but as a wise old Scottish golf caddie once said to me when I was moaning about a bad shot, "at least you are the right side of the grass sir" - meaning not buried under the ground. That brought a smile to my face and I stopped moaning and guess what? My game improved. So to all those wonderful people I saw at Maggie's today, keep smiling. There is a magnificent support mechanism around you and if through my small efforts I can help raise some well needed money then I will. Thanks for making my day.