🎂 Happy Birthday Blog!
2 years of writing with many more to come.
And just like that, it’s been 2 years since I started writing and I can’t thank you enough for your patience and support while I learned how to write, and discovered what to write about.
After a bumpy start, I’m finally finding my groove, and hearing from other writers about how “focusing on being consistent” is what helped them most, has been a great advice.
But despite knowing that consistency is key to achieving anything great, pressing the “Publish” button each week has been really hard.
The perfectionist in me wants to do an amazing job, and I’ve been guilty of trying to write a Lord of the Rings Trilogy each week, which was stressing me out and making it hard to be consistent. (Note to self: stress kills consistency).
But now that I’ve dealt with what was causing my stress, I’ve put boundaries around how long I can write for, which helps me focus and prevents my writing from eating into other parts of my life, like it did with Alfred.
And to celebrate Ben’s Blog 2nd birthday, I’ve decided to rename it to something that better reflects what I’m writing about, and I’m proud to announce that it’s now called:
Struggling.
Even though I could feel it, writing about my journey has made me realise just how much I was struggling, and that I’d been unhappy for nearly a decade.
But I’ve also learned that it’s ok, and that struggling is a natural and necessary part of life.
It means what I’m trying to do is hard, and my struggle has come from trying to build another career that’s as fulfilling as playing sport for my territory and country was. And do it while supporting a young family.
I’ve also been blown away by all the private messages from people saying they’re struggling too- whether it be from burnout or depression, and trying to help people understand that it’s ok, and that good will come from their struggles is what this blog is all about.
But I don’t want to struggle forever, and I hope one day to change this blog’s name again, but this time to: Thriving.
What to expect from Struggling going forward?
Over the coming months, I’m going to interview the people who’ve had a big impact of my life, while continuing to share stories from my playing days, my career transition, and more.
Plus we’ll also have a discussion each Friday (usually Rugby related), and I’m keen to hear your opinion, to help me make more informed and thoughtful contributions to Brumbies board meetings. Oh and we’ll start doing a monthly Q&A session too.
Decider here we come!
Despite the result, last Saturday night was special for me as I was able to take my girls to their first Wallabies match, and attend my second test since I played my last against England almost 8 years ago.
The atmosphere and pregame entertainment was incredible, and chatting to someone who was at a luncheon the day before had the chance to hear Eddie Jones speak.
“We’re going to start well” Eddie said, and boy was he right! But the loss sets up a historic decider at the SCG, and I can’t bloody wait!
Also on the weekend, I made the pilgrimage to the holy grail of Australian parkrun- the Main Beach course on the Gold Coast, which has been held weekly since 2011.
parkrun helps fill the hole in my weekend’s that retiring from Rugby has left, and I’ll be forever grateful to me old my Grift for dragging me along to my first run.
Thanks mate.
"I’ve also been blown away by all the private messages from people saying they’re struggling too- whether it be from burnout or depression, and trying to help people understand that it’s ok, and that good will come from their struggles is what this blog is all about."
THIS BIT
Great stuff mate many years and blogs to come!!