Adrienne Jerram

Adrienne Jerram

Tuesday, March 1, 2011

Stickers

When I was little I participated, along with my brother and sister, in Little Athletics. Every week, along with hundreds of other kids from the Hornsby area I would show up and run, jump, walk and throw my heart out.

Problem was, while my sister was a champion and my brother pretty decent too, I was ... not.

At Little Athletics we were all given a book and every time we competed in a race we received a sticker; blue for first, red for second, yellow for third. My book was filled, absolutely choc-a block, with purple. These were the consolation prize, thanks for showing up stickers. I once received a yellow sticker because there were only three people in the race. I was so proud!

My mum has since described to me the pain of seeing her child turn up to a race, again and again, only to be trailing the other kids by some distance. She tried to tell me to stop but, apparently, I couldn't be convinced. It still pains me today to think of that book of purple stickers.

The other day my mum called me 'Ms Stickability'. She thinks I will stick at anything.**

There is a skill in life of sticking with something until it is no longer beneficial. There is skill to letting go.

Now that Fit and Fabulous February, maybe the new lesson to learn is letting go.

Bye bye Feb. Hello March!

** My dad built a 30 ft yacht in the backyard in his spare time. For more than five years he'd get home at 6pm (having left at 7.20 that morning) eat dinner and then go out and work on that boat. Weekends were spent laying and sanding fibreglass, painting, sawing, building. There was a period where the whole family was itchy from continued exposure to fibreglass. And Mum wonders where I get this 'stickability' from.

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