Life really is a journey, a journey that is unmapped and often unplanned, your own journey. Embrace it and enjoy every moment. The good and the bad, for every moment adds to our life experiences and moulds us as a person.

I am so blessed in so many ways. I was privileged to go to Durban Girls College, one of the top girls’ schools in Durban. I absolutely loved my school and everything about it, it really did mould me as a person. After school I went on to study a 4 year B.Ed Foundation phase degree and started teaching straight after that.

Im often referred to as the “new kid on the block” when it comes to running competitively. I guess you could say that, I mean I did always run at school, I ran cross country and athletics for KZN but to be honest sadly athletics isn’t big in KZN so that’s kind of where I left it. I never had a coach back then and I was more of a sporting all rounder and delved into all sports. I played provincial hockey, ran for KZN, swam for my school and I was also very involved in Surf Life-Saving where I competed in World Champs in New Zealand in 1998 at the age of 16. Growing up as the baby in a family of brothers I had to keep up or id be left out. I pretty much did everything from Ballet to Judo to cricket, you name it, I did it and I thank my brothers for making me tough.

There are many things that spark my fire but I think the one that stands out the most was my desire to feel “good enough”.

Sport gave me this, I was able to compete and it wasn’t only about talent, it was about HEART. There was one competitor to beat and that competitor was me. In most endeavours in life, talent matters to a degree, but as you grow up and mature you learn that heart matters just as much.

 “There’s something in your heart and its in your eyes it’s the FIRE, inside you.

LET IT BURN”

“Winning to me isn’t about finishing first place. It isn’t about beating others. It is about overcoming yourself. Overcoming you body, your limitation and your fears. Winning means surpassing yourself and turning your dreams into reality”

When we find our fire, we find our true selves and our authenticity. Fire wont guarantee you a result, but it will bring you respect, no matter what the outcome.

Today if you are lacking the fire,do me a favour, get out a piece of paper and start with the question, “What do I love?”. It’s a process. I started with this question many years ago and I’m following my heart and my dreams.

If I’ve learnt one lesson in life recently, it is this-life is precious, its short and we will be remembered for our fire. What we are passionate about defines us.

Fire requires a spark as well as maintenance. You have to stoke and kindle a fire. BELIEVE in yourself and your abilities. Surround yourself with people who believe in you. My friends and the group of professionals in my team believe in me, sometimes more so than I do myself and THAT FUELS MY FIRE.

Find a GOAL, set it and believe you can achieve it because you CAN.

WILL SMITH talked about a lesson he learn’t as a child in building a wall. “You don’t just build a wall. You don’t just say, ‘Im going to build the biggest, greatest wall.’ You don’t start there. You say; ‘Im going to lay this brick as perfectly as a brick can be laid,’ and you do that every day, and soon you have a wall.”

FIRES are built like walls. One piece of kindling at a time until you have a raging, roaring fire.

I stoked my fire and I’m going to keep it burning. I want my daughters to be proud of me, I want to show them that anything is possible with the right attitude, determination, hard work and BELIEF.

               Thank you for following my journey,

     If I can inspire one person in one small way then my day is made.