Thought For The Day – Wednesday 8th January 2024
All That Matters
“Our time on this planet is finite. Don’t waste your time worrying about stuff that isn’t that important. Focus on the things that are important, focus on your family, the people in your life. That thing that you’ve always planned to do one day, why not do it today? My perspective on life has changed massively. I am more thankful, I’m more grateful for each day. It’s been a tough year and it’s going to be tough ahead in the future too but for now, right here right now, we’re doing pretty well.” (Sir Chris Hoy)
Yesterday we referred to Luke Littler winning the world darts championship aged 17. Sir Chris Hoy presented Luke with the trophy.
Sir Chris Hoy, a six-time Olympic gold medalist in cycling, is a sporting hero.
Sir Chris Hoy was a key leader of the renaissance of the United Kingdom and Northern Ireland Olympic team, beginning with a medal in Sydney (2000), and following with gold medals in Athens (2004), Beijing (2008) and, famously, and iconically, London (2012) where Sir Chris cried tears of joy, and humble pride, on the podium as the gold medal was received and the national anthem was played.
It was no coincidence that, as Sir Chris excelled, so did “Team G.B.”. The same is true of the sport of cycling generally.
Off the track, Sir Chris has always further demonstrated moral values and leadership. He is a great communicator and person.
In the past year, Sir Chris has further transcended his sport of cycling by sharing his prostrate cancer condition, which is terminal.
It is a reminder to us of the many challenges many people face and to always be compassionate and to have a deeper and wider perspective.
Sir Chris’ recent book is appropriately called “All That Matters”.
As Sir Chris’ quote (printed above) states, it is important not to lose sight of what is important, and what does, ultimately, matter.
Sir Chris talked of his life journey in a BBC interview last year: https://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/m002562v/sir-chris-hoy-finding-hope
Sir Chris continues to lead, using his platform for good, currently raising awareness of cancer, particularly prostrate cancer.
At the beginning of the above programme, Sir Chris reads the following poem, which Sir Chris also read at his son’s christening.
“Follow Your Dreams”. “All That Matters”.
