Commitment

I am not a religious person; however, I believe there is great wisdom in the bible and possibly other religious texts. My grandfather was a vicar and from him I gained a reasonable knowledge of the bible. Recently I have been thinking about Ecclesiastes 3:2-8 and Matthew 6:24.

Saturday will be the first day of the Kalahari Augrabies Extreme Marathon, a 250k multi-day self-sufficient run through the Kalahari Desert. It has been a big part of my life since 2007. In January of this year I decided I would not be taking part in 2024; I would move onto something new – developing my stand-up comedy career.

Ecclesiastes 3:2-8

To everything there is a season, and a time to every purpose under the heaven:

2 A time to be born, and a time to die; a time to plant, and a time to pluck up that which is planted;

3 A time to kill, and a time to heal; a time to break down, and a time to build up;

4 A time to weep, and a time to laugh; a time to mourn, and a time to dance;

5 A time to cast away stones, and a time to gather stones together; a time to embrace, and a time to refrain from embracing;

6 A time to get, and a time to lose; a time to keep, and a time to cast away;

7 A time to rend, and a time to sew; a time to keep silence, and a time to speak;

8 A time to love, and a time to hate; a time of war, and a time of peace.

A few months later it was announced that due to falling numbers of entrants and increasing costs 2024 would be the last staging of the event. People expected me to change my mind and enter in 2024 to experience the event for one last time. I did not. To be able to successfully complete the event requires a lot of dedicated training. To develop my comedy career requires performing at gigs out of county; there are not enough opportunities in Cornwall. Travel and late nights are not conducive to putting in consistent long, hard training runs.

?

Matthew 6:24

No man can serve two masters: for either he will hate the one, and love the other; or else he will hold to the one, and despise the other. You cannot serve God and mammon.

From time to time I reflect on my decision and am content that I have made the right choice. This was reinforced on Thursday when I performed comedy in the Fortesque, Mutley Plain, Plymouth. The format was different from the normal stand-up routine of telling jokes, on that occasion we had to tell one story lasting between 10 and 15 minutes based on a real-life experience and it had to be funny. I had developed what I was going to say and practised at home until I was happy with it. I was nervous on the night because, one I always am and two it was something new. I was third on the bill. The first two comedians put in great performances. The first, a regular on the Plymouth comedy scene, told a story about booze, bars and Bangkok, the second, a younger comedian, told a tale about being a young gay man in a society that is not as accepting of differences as it should be. That heightened my nervousness. I have learnt to banish the fear once I am in front of the microphone and do the best I can. My story went down well and I was on a par with the first two comedians. The laughter and applause from the audience gave me a great buzz, a feeling that was still with me after the drive home. Yes, I had made the right decision.

I have learnt that it is important to fully commit to things and also to fully commit to not doing things. To do otherwise will lead at best to mediocracy and at worst to failure.

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