Page 52 - Tropic Magazine Issue 16

TROPIC • OPINION

Megan
Thomas
Owner
PhyxMe Physiotherapy

Challenges for life

“First one in the shower wins!” I call out to my two children in
order to achieve the first step in the evening routine as quickly
as possible. They race off, pushing and shoving their way
past each other to the bathroom. Neither of them ask “wins Amy Eden
what?” - all that seems to matter is one of them will be first,
and to my relief, that’s enough to drive the evening shower Project Leader
motivation. 3MPride
So, what is it about a challenge that we love so much?
‘Nothing,’ I hear some of you say. I beg to differ. I think there Words to live by
is an in-built competitive drive in all of us, just some (like me)
are more wired than others. What is in a word? Does it really matter if we embellish a
The aspect of challenge is what makes us successful, no matter story with a few words here and leave a few words out there?
how small the success is (from passing a test, getting a date, I say yes!! Language is powerful. Is it an accident or a crash?
being fit, or even beating your sibling to the bathroom.) One must say what one means. According to the Oxford
Dictionary, a word is “a single distinct meaningful element of

Test yourself speech or writing”.
• Do you challenge those around you? If not, why not? Words are powerful but they can also become clichéd. As the
• Do you need to re-invigorate that childhood determination new year rolled around, terms such as ‘healthier lifestyles’,
to ‘just win’? ‘tech detoxing’, and ‘new year, new you’, were on the tip of
• Do you challenge your family to be better? everyone’s tongue…it can get a bit much and it’s easy to get
• Do you challenge ideas? And the minds of other people? overwhelmed and do nothing.

Competition has driven me all my life to succeed, an attitude One-word guide
which has brought success, respect, growth and excitement. After some reflection and a few cold ciders, I decided to set
Why don’t you bring out that competitive drive and see where a theme word for the year to help focus my own priorities.
it leads?… I challenge you! A word I could apply to every facet of my life; career, family,
personal development and community work.
MORE: phyxme.com.au My word this year is ‘Kaizen’ - get better at getting better, a
Japanese word relating to continual improvement. Taking
the time to reflect on what I want to achieve and a word that
embodies that has been a powerful daily tool, holding me
accountable and making me work hard to keep ‘my word’.
Annie Dillard’s powerful words have also always been a call to
action for me, “How we spend our days is, of course, how we
spend our lives.”

MORE: facebook.com/3mpride
facebook.com/manooracommunitygarden

Annie Dillard

52 • Tropic • Issue 16