WOKEN TO THE SOUNDS OF A BUGLE

It was a beautiful morning, for many a public holiday and day off work. Enough to feel good, sleep in and enjoy some time at home with family, friends or doing something you love (away from the humdrum, daily grind of work that so many believe and experience their work, their contribution to be). But for thousands upon thousands it's meaning was so much more...

As I woke this morning to the sounds of a bugle just across the road, I was reminded of something so many (even myself at times) take for granted... Freedom

The 102nd Anzac day memorial had begun.

What could Anzac day mean to someone who has never known war, let alone experienced it?

The thought of war sickens me. In my utopian mindset I believe all should, could live in peace and harmony. Embracing and accepting all, no matter ones colour, culture, beliefs or status. Today it is in memory of the Anzacs, but there are so many memorial days of tragic events throughout history, across the world.

You don't need to be Einstein to know a world without war, heart breaking and trafic events will never be the case. Simply switching on the TV, catching the news is enough to see. Something I choose not to do. Some would think I bury my head in the sand, others would wholeheartedly agree. It's one's personal choice and personally I think why fill your mind and add to the collective consciousness of fear and worry, bringing to itself more fear and worry

I have had the privilege to meet and talk with some of Australia's war veterans. Everyday men called to duty by no choice of their own to fight in the front line, in circumstances I could never (would never) imagine. This wonderful group of men gather each year with their mates to celebrate the life they and their families now live. And to comfort and share stories with each other of their days in the trenches. Many still bearing the physical scars but many carrying the psychological scars and wounds most of us will never see or know, for they are buried in the minds of these men. Each day traumatised, struggling to make sense of untold, unimaginable heartache, bloodshed and pain. Each day trying to move forward. In a recent TedX talk I shared I was blown away to read we have lost more soldiers to suicide than in combat. Mind blowing, tragic, heart breaking and uneccessary.


I do not pretend to know or understand in any depth the pain and hardship these men and women had to endure (let alone the families that had to watch them leave, left behind to hope and prayer. But like the majority of Australians and New Zealanders I stand in awe, in silence, and remembrance of their dedication, their suffering to bring what many of us so easily take for granted - freedom.

To them, I say thank you. My thoughts are with you.

My only way of saying thank you is to take this precious life I have and do all I can to live it, love it, celebrate it and contribute in my own way, the best I can to help my fellow brothers and sisters.

To be the best version of me, to be a light in the world that brings as much love, joy, hope and inspiration as I possibly can.

› › Woken to the sounds of a bugle