Life isn't meant to be easy

I spend lots of time on the internet searching for videos that inspire me (not them kind of videos, dirty minds). I mean videos that I find inspirational and motivational. I enjoy finding out what drives people from all walks of life. I love watching people overcoming obstacles and the commitment they show in reaching their goals.

There are so many positive messages that you can gather from different areas of life. Obviously with my sporting background, most of the videos that I view and the things I read are about pushing yourself to your limit. They are about having a dream and not letting anything get in the way of you achieving them. Sport is about overcoming failures, learning from them and coming back stronger, the very same rules apply in life.

I found a story on You Tube and I urge everybody to watch it. It is entitled True love, the greatest sports ever told (link below). I wont go into the details of it as I want you to discover it yourselves. It is a show of great human spirit, it is about what life means to two people, a father and a son. It makes me emotional writing this as the father in it is a guy called Dick Hoyt and I want to be like him. Mr Hoyt shows me what it means to be a man and a father. To protect and provide for his family with great courage. I have not told AJ about it yet but I will do as i believe there are many messages that will help him out and which he can gain strength from. Many of us moan when we have had a long day at work or when things are not going our way but maybe we take things for granted. Life is not supposed to be easy. It's about facing challenges and overcoming them and growing as a person. AJ and Alex may not realise it yet but they are inspiring me and many others, by doing what they are doing for their son, they are displaying qualities that we can all learn from.

View the video here

One thing Shaun Wane is very good at is inventing words. He is constantly coming up with possible additions to the English dictionary. Two recent ones are smothercate and addictable ( It took me ages to type them two words in, the computer was not having them). We can see the sense behind the words and I like the fact that he puts his own spin on things. I have also come up with a new term recently. I was driving the other day on the loudspeaker phone to my mrs. The involuntary action that is sneezing occurred and with one hand on the steering wheel and the other of the gear stick, I was unable to cover mouth, therefore the explosion that left my nose and mouth at a rapid rate, found its resting place all over the windscreen. Obviously Rach, my mrs, could hear this and she said that it was loud, I then replied by saying that here was sneezejuice all over the window. She commented at how revolting that word was but I was quite pleased with it. Therefore 'sneezejuice ' was born. Please feel free to use, at no cost.

How hard are rugby players? Micky Higham of Warrington played this week against Catalan Dragons with not one broken wrist, but two. He had them both injected and then went out and played against one of the most physical teams. That is an unbelievable effort and one that takes great mental strength. I know Micky well and he is from the old school of playing rugby. He wouldnt like people knowing that he is hurt. By making these kinds of commitments, rugby players get the one thing that thy strive for most, respect. I also know that Micky is very financially economical therefore I would not be surprised if I dug a little deeper and found out that he may be on an appearance bonus. Just joking Michael, huge effort son.

I was driving into work on Sunday morning this week at 7:30am, the morning after our Challenge Cup victory against Saints and I saw a bloke doing the dreaded walk of shame. The sun was shining and most of Wigan was relatively fresh yet this dude was zig zagging across the pavement and falling off the curb, probably knowing he should have been home hours ago. The thing that struck me though was that this guy still had his Wigan jersey on and had probably been to the game. Where had he been since the game finished at 4:00pm the previous night? I am really intrigued. Did he pull at the game? If you are reading this and it was you walking up Beech Hill early on Sunday morning, please let me know your story dude!!

I have now been initiated into 'The Road Warriors' cycle gang people.This Sunday, I took my mate Mick Farrell ( our Sports Mind Coach ), to a bike shop near the Trafford centre. What was supposed to be an enjoyable experience was ruined by Mick and his analytical approach to every detail. Size of frame, gears, cogs and tyre pressure, it was ridiculous. I just wanted a bike in a nice colour. Two hours later I left the shop and I had already fallen out with cycling and I hadnt even been on the thing yet. Just give me a bike, show me a hill and I'll get up it, simples. Mick said he would print me off some tables showing power outputs, cheers Mick... I will file them in the cabinet labelled " I couldn't give a rats ass"... I love you really Mick. Anyway, nobody warned me about saddle soreness. I have been sat in a bucket of ice for three days due to a bruised under carriage...

The Manchester 10km is this Sunday and i am looking forward to it. Next week I will tell you how i got on...... e mail me through any questions Radders13@gmail.com

PS. The attached photo is off Pat Richards recovering after his knee surgery in Tenerife, thanks for the photo mate, its lashing down outside in Wigan , there's nowt on tele and I have run out of tea bags!!!