Life is short... that I can tell you.
Once you've got kids you realise how short life is
and how fast time goes.
We've got this vegetable garden, so we ask them,
if you plant a tomato seed in the ground
what do you think is going to come up?
A tomato.
And if you plant a watermelon,
what's going to come up? A pumpkin?
What did you do with your vegetable garden?
Not your physical vegetable garden.
But what did you do with your life?
What did you sow? What did you multiply?
What did you do?
Is it going to bear good fruit or bad fruit?
As a little boy there were a lot of things that I was struggling with.
My spelling was way under standard.
When the marks were read out in class
and you know that there is 2/20,
you're like uh oh,
that's most likely going to be me when it comes to writing.
So those things were embarrassing.
When it came to reading, there were always these little groups.
So we had different kids at different levels.
There was always the group that had severe learning disabilities
and I was in this group.
So I wondered what was wrong with me? I couldn't understand.
And then by Grade 2 they picked up that I had severe dyslexia.
I didn't believe I was worth anything.
There were a bunch of things like that,
that made me feel like I was a mess.
Society has branded me as a mess,
so maybe that's the reality and that's the way I am.
I'm already a mess, so I can just keep messing up.
That had a serious effect down the line
which I only realised much later on.
If I look back, I can see key points
that changed me completely, 180 degrees.
I remember the one incident, about 10 or 15 years ago,
we went rock climbing with a friend.
And I fell, and the rope caught me.
I realised that this rope has actually got the ability to hold me.
I don't have to be scared of falling.
I realised that falling is not as bad as I thought it was.
And that was the most liberating feeling ever.
The way people have perceived me in the past
or what they've reflected onto me,
isn't necessarily the truth.
And that led down a fascinating path.
And I realised that I am unique
and I am different.
And so is everyone else.
And I just had to accept it.
Just stop fighting it, just surrender and go with the flow.
Then things started swinging around completely.
You learn a lot as you go on, hey.
We've all screwed up so badly.
We can be very critical, and that's destructive.
What's the use of talking yourself down?
'Oh idiot, why did you do that?'
No, this is not the way to speak to yourself.
Because that's only going to have negative effects.
Stop it.
What's really causing the destruction?
What's really behind it?
And see how you can address that or eliminate it.
I can truly say I'm grateful for the change that happened.
If I ended up going the route that I was planning to go,
I would not have been here,
I would not have a lovely wife, beautiful kids,
and a fulfilling life.
I would have missed it... I would have missed it completely.
Before that, when I was still in a state of trauma
and unforgiveness and all the rest of it,
I didn't have any love.
Something deep changed
and that love came in.
And that love transformed me from the inside out.
Love is an incredibly potent thing.
It is so strong.
And love is a medicine.
Love pushes people forward.
Love embraces them with their mistakes.
To love people that love you back is easy.
But real love comes when people don't love you,
when people are nasty to you,
when people say ugly things towards you.
If you can imagine there is a dove sitting on your shoulder.
Just keep half an eye on the dove.
And if the dove flies away, something is rattling it.
Why is it rattled?
We all get to that point where we lose it.
Where's the dove? The dove has gone.
And you're frustrated and irritated.
What now?
It's when the taxi cuts in front of you.
Or the client tells you, 'It's not looking nice...'
'I'm not going to pay you.'
And you can say, 'I'm going to love you anyway.'
Because that thing that is manifesting there,
it's not the real person.
It's often injuries, or most of the time it's past hurts,
something that has happened in their lives.
And it's often that they are on a nasty pathway.
That's the journey that they've chosen.
It might be bumpy, but I have a choice.
I can love them, and that will help them foward and help them.
And as you operate in love
the dove stays... it just stays.
If you've got a short term vision, you farm with vegetables.
If you've got a long term vision, you plant fruit trees.
If you've got an eternity vision, you invest in people.
And our kids...
I've got this short window of opportunity to love them.
The way we love them has an influence on the next generation.
So I can live in my era and my generation,
and I can influence people and love them, and carry on.
But through my kids
I can potentially influence generations to come.
We can show them the place of love
or we can show them the place with no love.
Both will bear fruit.
I want them to have the fruit of love.
Just follow love.