by Martin Collis, Ph.D.

The invitation said, "Finger Foods and friends" and two of the friends who showed up reminded me of the "greatest lecture I never taught". I used to teach a class called ‘Human Potential’ at the University of Victoria where students were given the option of presenting a 15 minute oral presentation of how they had stretched towards their own potential. In one class that I’ll never forget, we heard three stunning stories that had the students riveted and aware of the greatness that can lie within each and every one of us.

The tallest and the shortest people at the party arrived together. The tallest was Steve Nash, a 24 year old Victorian whom I used to coach in soccer. Steve has recently signed a $36 million contract with the Dallas Mavericks and is a story in himself. (The odds of a 6’4" white kid from Victoria making the NBA are off the scale). But it was his diminutive friend Simon Ibel about whom I am choosing to write. Simon was born with Muco Polysaccharidosis (MPS) which has left him arthritic with back pain, a hearing deficiency and other health problems, any one of which would send me running to my physician.

Simon has a wonderful mind and a passion for sport, which he has fulfilled as a team manager, and by studying Physical Education at the University of Victoria. This amazing person is currently studying Leisure Services Administration and wants to go no to specialize in sports law. When I worry about my back troubles, my arthritic hip and other assorted ills, all I have to do is think about Simon to put my difficulties in perspective. Simon never complains, tends to laugh a lot, and gets on with life. Last week he joined me on ‘Team Intellect’ in defeating my executive coordinator Dino and his ‘Team Sex Appeal’ at bocce (Bocce is technicolour lawn bowling with an Italian flavour).

Guest number two was Rob Dyke who has achieved many amazing feats in his years. He completed his first Hawaii Ironman with raging diarrhea which required record amounts of medical treatment and rehydration. Another of Rob’s accomplishments was to swim the Vancouver to Victoria ferry route. This unique feat was structured as a fundraiser for the local children’s hospital, but the principal swimmer dropped out and Rob stepped in as a last minute replacement. (It can’t be easy to find a replacement for a 52 km. Swim in 9-degree Celsius (58 F) water, with wind, waves, and tides to contend with.) Not surprisingly Rob came up short and was pulled from the water hypothermic, semi-conscious with his arms still flailing away unaware that he was no longer in the ocean.

People learn from experience, but they learn different lessons. The lesson Rob learned was to be better prepared next year. Rob focussed on protecting his head better to prevent heat loss, he wore gloves to stop his hands from bloating, and he stepped up his already challenging training program.

In the early part of his second attempt he felt it was impossible, but he would just go far enough to register a respectable attempt. But he kept going and gained inspiration from the sunrise and suddenly was in a position to become the first person to ever complete the Vancouver — Victoria swim.

The third speaker in the class was named Laura Crawford, a quiet and introspective woman who barely said a word during the term. She had to follow Rob and Simon, which was a daunting task. Laura is an international equestrian competitor and she told of training for a place on Canada’s Olympic Team. In the years leading up to the Games, she would often feel exhausted and she berated herself for getting lazy. Like many athletes, her response was to train even harder. She was young and not considered as one of the established inner circle of Canadian show jumping. She was told that in order to be considered for the team she would have to compete successfully in a European meet with fences (gates) higher than she had ever jumped.

While practicing on the morning of the competition, she was thrown from her horse, which then rolled on top of her, breaking several ribs and damaging her ankle. She was unable to remove her riding boot and was afraid that if she did, she’d never get it back on for the afternoon competition.

Laura rode a clear round with broken ribs and a broken ankle, and was informed by the selection committee that they had decided to "go with experience" (i.e. without her on the team). Laura’s tiredness had now been diagnosed as Lupus, one of a number of autoimmune diseases, which seems to be increasingly prevalent in recent years.

What I admire about these three people is their courage in face of adversity and their "unreasonableness". Reason would have dictated that Simon not study physical education. It would have told Rob that there was a reason nobody had swum the Vancouver — Victoria ferry route. And, of course, no reasonable person with Lupus would be in Europe jumping 6-ft. fences with a broken ankle and with broken ribs. There is a place in this world for that sort of unreasonable person. It can become too easy to reason, or rationalize, yourself out of a difficult situation. (I’m tired, I’ve got chin splints, I’m too old etc.)

So if you want to achieve something it’s a matter of focus and not being deflected from your purpose. As Dylan noted:

"If the arrow is straight and the point is slick,

It can pierce through dust??? No matter how thick."

For inspiration I look to my bust of Beethoven. Here was a man who at the age of 32 had gout, epilepsy, skin problems, digestive trouble, was stone deaf and suicidal. But he chose life. Instead of taking his own life, he wrote arguably the greatest music ever written while being sick and stone deaf.

What’s your excuse? What would you be doing right now if you had the fortitude of Rob, Simon, Laura or even old Ludwig himself? What’s stopping you?