Latest / The R4R Podcast: Road to Zero / That's a wrap | 2025 | Year in review

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That's a wrap | 2025 | Year in review · The R4R Podcast: Road to Zero

0:00
Beauty. Well, welcome to the last
0:03
podcast of 2025. I'm Matt, This is Lily.
0:07
You all know Benny, what a year. I mean, this will be episode 19
0:13
of the podcast. It's just pretty crazy.
0:15
We're so lucky to have such generous hosts in Damo and James
0:19
at the Lonsdale St studios, but we thought it'd be a great idea
0:23
to review some of our favourite or most insightful moments from
0:28
2025. And we've got a few clips ready
0:32
to roll and we'll make a comment as they come in, but it all
0:36
feels very, very professional here.
0:38
We're so we're very lucky to be part of part of this setup.
0:40
But any any words before we get into the first clip?
0:45
No, not for me. Just excited to see what you
0:47
guys have picked. Yeah, now it's been awesome.
0:51
I can't thank Lonsdale Studio and Damo and Jimbo and Chloe
0:55
enough. This certainly when we thought
0:58
let's do a, we wanted to make this year year at the store and
1:01
get more people sharing their stories, which is what we've
1:03
been doing in the newsletter. And we thought, let's take it up
1:05
a notch this year. And we're like, Yep, let's get a
1:08
pod going. And Brainy struck gold with his
1:10
cold email. Another Brainy cold email
1:14
strikes, strikes hot. When you emailed here, mate,
1:16
asking if yeah, if, but the studio was keen to help.
1:20
So well, down to you for that, for your cold email asking,
1:23
asking Lonzo to get involved because they've just been the I
1:26
mean, they've been the best partners.
1:28
Yes, like example, they live and breathe it and just yeah, and
1:33
I've already said it twice, but thank you again, Lonzo studio
1:36
for this. This is a bit of fun and and
1:37
hopefully, as people say, there's been some meaningful,
1:40
not just fun, there's actually been some meaningful stuff that
1:42
hopefully I know, especially your episode.
1:44
Kudos. I think it has made a
1:46
difference. Yeah, for sure.
1:48
Let's get into it. Yeah.
1:50
All righty play here. We are here.
1:53
We are indeed. So we're talking about red flags
2:00
and yellow flags, learning to spot them in people that come to
2:02
Afra and in themselves, making sure because you can't help
2:04
other people unless you're in a good state to help others.
2:08
And you and your better half said, how do you spot the people
2:13
that the life of the party that are putting on that mask that
2:18
everything's OK, that they're fine, but obviously your mate
2:20
wasn't OK for a long time leading up to it.
2:25
And I guess what I'm trying to say is what looking back, did
2:29
you spot? Did you notice anything now
2:31
looking back? Or you were still like, what
2:33
what is it? What what was a flag now looking
2:35
back that you'd spot in your mate?
2:37
Because I hope people listening might be able to spot it and
2:40
just put not down fix their friends, but just be looking out
2:43
for them. What?
2:44
What the people that are really good at masking?
2:46
It's a really good question Benny.
2:48
And look, I'm one of my best mates today is his brother, 2
2:53
years younger than even we and another of my best mates.
2:58
And we've all just been away to, to Hawaii together and we talk
3:01
about Pete every time we're together.
3:05
And one of the things that I it, it's not an obvious sign, Benny.
3:11
But when I look back when we were out fishing and when we
3:14
were living together, there were times when and OK, it's hard to
3:20
explain, but I just could tell that he wasn't there was like a
3:26
like a the shape of his forehead.
3:28
I know that sounds ridiculous, but.
3:31
He swelling or. Something yeah, mate.
3:32
He just, I could tell by the the the shape of his eyes that when
3:38
I look back and I can see him now like that, he wasn't he just
3:44
wasn't in a good place. And I and I actually think when
3:48
I look back that I knew he wasn't, but it was like it
3:53
wasn't my. Was it your place to say my?
3:57
Place to ask whether it was I should have been but like I say
4:01
different time different situation and and and I I think
4:06
now because I've got to you know I think everybody has days that
4:10
are bad Benny you know I. Mean weeks.
4:12
Weeks that are bad, of course. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.
4:14
And I've had a couple of, you know, bad, bad.
4:18
Everybody does, but I, I think the difference or the advice
4:23
that I would give to to people and I've done it with you a
4:26
couple of times when I've just actually rung you, you.
4:29
Checked in. Yeah, you checked.
4:29
Something. Hey mate, I'm just just saw you
4:32
the other day. You're you're good.
4:34
Do you know do you want to go? It was last year.
4:36
I'm trying to remember what happened.
4:37
I was I was last week and I was just running out.
4:39
I don't remember what it was, but I do still really appreciate
4:41
that message. And and what what I'm getting at
4:44
is I think people should ask even if you have the slightest
4:50
inclination. Inclination of what?
4:53
That you'll offend them or. The no, no, slightest
4:55
inclination that they're not. They're not great.
4:57
Yeah, ask, just ask. I would just wish I'd have been
5:01
more mature, smarter, and just said to Pete, my what's going
5:05
on? What?
5:07
Talk to me, You know what? What's going on in here like.
5:10
And I never did that. All right, Yeah, that was my
5:13
clips. I think in prep for this, we all
5:15
picked 3 clips each and I why I that's the clip that's had the
5:19
biggest impact on me one and for a couple reasons one has been
5:24
just getting to know Rich. The guy is probably the most
5:29
busiest person I've ever met running 600 gyms or more than
5:32
that now than I've been at any time.
5:34
He's now running Anytime Fitness in the UK as well.
5:38
But the guy just makes so much time for for and he, you can see
5:42
an interaction have with him. You can see how much he cares
5:45
and believes in what we're doing.
5:47
So that that clip's really special to me, One for it just
5:50
symbolises the friendship that I've made with Rich and that him
5:53
and I didn't. I'd known him that long, wasn't
5:55
few months maybe after we first had that coffee with Jess and
5:58
Rich, a double shot, and now we're encouraging us to step it
6:02
up again with Alfra. You know that he sent that text
6:05
and I was like, the text from Rich doesn't even know me that
6:07
well, but he's just checking in on me.
6:09
And that always really stuck with me.
6:10
And that's something him doing that the guy I know is super
6:15
busy, has so much to do, but he still took the time to send me a
6:19
text when I was over. I can't, I can't remember, but I
6:21
was probably rundown. I wasn't managing stuff well.
6:24
It wasn't in a super bad way, but I whenever he saw me, I must
6:28
not have been the normal Ben that he'd that he knew.
6:31
Swallowing for. It maybe my forever swallowing,
6:35
but that's really changed how I now I haven't ever listened now
6:40
in my phone of just people that I'm a bit I know something's
6:44
happened in their life. They've been laid off or they've
6:47
lost a family member. And then just on the weekend or
6:50
on a Friday, if I've got a bit of downtime, I might shoot a
6:52
couple of them a text. Just tell you how you're going.
6:54
Look, nothing fancy, nothing earth shatteringly complex, but
7:02
I think it just yeah, for for a guy who I know is super busy to
7:04
make time just to text me how I'm going.
7:06
It made a big difference. It still sticks me.
7:08
I do remember that text. So that's something that has
7:12
definitely, definitely changed my behaviour.
7:13
Was that that conversation and why I picked that clip?
7:16
Yeah, changed others behaviour too.
7:18
Someone said that. A few people said that they
7:20
texted their mates as a result of watching that.
7:23
I think there's no downside texting your mates.
7:26
And receiving a message like that if you are in doesn't have
7:29
to be a super bad place, but it just shows you that you're not
7:32
alone. And it can really, it can really
7:34
make a huge difference. You don't have to reply straight
7:37
away either. Like it just I've received a
7:39
couple from Rich as well. He's yeah, great guy.
7:41
And it really is nice knowing that people make time and care
7:45
about you. He cares and you can see we was
7:48
hearing about his best mate. He people watch the clip, it
7:53
gets bit graphic what happened, but he didn't he didn't even
7:57
tell everything about what happened to his mate.
7:59
And it is just so sad, so tragic.
8:02
And it just really clear why Jess and Rich are so committed
8:05
after having gone through that and trying to just saved more
8:09
lives from suicide. So there, Jason Rich, thank you.
8:12
Guys are superstars. And yeah, maybe on to the next
8:15
clip. Well, I just want to back, I
8:17
want to back Rich up on his swollen forehead because I think
8:20
the two reasons there is something called like if you
8:23
think about the different faces you make when you get focused or
8:27
surprised, like there's certain ways, there's certain lines or
8:31
what indents that you can have pick up.
8:35
It's called like the grief, the grief wrinkle or whatever it is
8:39
for that. But there's also, I reckon
8:41
intuition just based on what you're feeling.
8:45
You know someone better than most people do.
8:47
If something's just a bit off, bit out of the ordinary, it just
8:50
means that something's out of the ordinary.
8:51
It's just worth sending a text or whatnot.
8:54
It could be out of the ordinary for a good reason for a bad
8:57
reason, but there's no downside. And but the other thing they
8:59
might not like. We think we need to send a text
9:01
and everything. Then their friend will be fixed.
9:03
It's one their friend doesn't need fixing.
9:05
No one's broken and it's probably a discussion for
9:07
another day, but it just lets the person know that you're
9:11
there for them. You might not want to open up,
9:12
or the person might not be ready to open up, but they know you
9:15
care about them. And I know if I'm in a super bad
9:17
way, one of the first people I'm going to text to go have a chat
9:19
with will be rich. Yeah, yeah, just letting them
9:22
know you're there. Yep, yeah.
9:25
Beauty. Next clip, that girl who was
9:28
shrugging her shoulders in the psychology room or that girl
9:31
that was fiddling with the chords or whatever in the in the
9:35
paediatric ward. If you could walk into the room
9:39
and see her, what would you like?
9:43
Would you say any, like could you say anything?
9:46
What would you do? Or would you just sit there and
9:48
just be there? I think what would I do?
9:52
I think I'd first of all give her a big hug.
9:54
Yeah. And I would say like you are
9:58
enough. Like you don't.
10:01
Just being you is enough, and you don't have to make yourself
10:07
seem better or, you know, just being you is enough.
10:12
And then I think I'll just sit there for a while, yeah.
10:17
Who picked that? I picked that one, but I'll let
10:19
you start, Lily. Well, actually I was thinking
10:24
about that and I don't know if I would give myself a hug because
10:29
I know 15 year old me would have hated that, but I think maybe I
10:33
needed it. Yeah, it's interesting watching
10:37
yourself on TV. Actually, I haven't seen that
10:39
before. The reason I picked it, it's
10:42
kind of what you alluded to in Nobody Needs Fixing.
10:45
In a sense, how powerful it is, just someone being there.
10:50
Yeah. And not having a solution.
10:52
And just like I often think about it, if you tell someone
10:55
what you're going through and they just go, ah, man, that
10:58
sucks. And then they don't say anything
11:00
else. Sometimes that is so powerful,
11:02
Yeah. And just being there.
11:04
And that's what stuck out with me is like, sometimes we just
11:07
need that pert like you had it with your family, but it's like
11:10
we just need it. We need someone to just be
11:13
there. Yeah, because it can be very
11:15
isolating when you're in a bad place.
11:17
And so, yeah, just having someone physically there can
11:21
make a huge difference without them actually doing much at all.
11:24
Yeah. I think it's also very wise what
11:28
you said about just you are enough.
11:30
And I think it's something a lot of professional sports people
11:34
fall in the trap of us. We're always trying to get
11:36
better, push ourselves to be better, improve, get feedback.
11:39
And that's great. There should be we should want
11:42
to get better and improve as people.
11:43
But but really like that's just from a place that should come
11:47
from a place of curiosity about what our potential is.
11:52
But basically the end of the day that we shouldn't need to do any
11:54
of that. We are enough as people to just
11:56
be present. We don't have to be productive.
11:59
Like I'm not saying that really resonate.
12:00
I mean, something I, I almost reflect on daily, like trying to
12:04
unpick my identity from like achievement because in the past,
12:08
certainly in the past, I needed to achieve stuff, to feel good
12:10
about myself, to get external validation.
12:13
And I think that the root cause a lot of a lot of my burnout and
12:18
a lot of my struggles, particularly in retirement
12:21
because I didn't have sport anymore to achieve things.
12:24
Yeah, Great, great clip. Kudos.
12:27
Thank you. The constant tension between.
12:29
Improving and and yeah, yeah, it's like we all should want to
12:33
get better and improve, but that doesn't also mean we're broken.
12:36
Yeah, it's a it's. A hard balance.
12:39
And everyone finds it hard to follow it's.
12:41
Like not like self growth, it's like you're you're enough, but
12:44
then you just keep on improving. But you don't have to do
12:48
anything physically to have that growth instead of have it within
12:51
yourself. Yeah.
12:53
And out of curiosity, I like that angle.
12:56
It's like improvement via curiosity is a good way to do
12:59
it. I was really lucky with the
13:02
recess for resilience. I had Steph come to me
13:04
incredibly passionate at the start of the year when I was in
13:06
the acting principal role and sometimes in schools,
13:09
particularly, you know, the public service in Canberra in
13:13
particular. We're very much a Big Brother
13:15
society. If do you have this team plan,
13:17
do you have a plan for this? Do you have a map for this?
13:19
And we make things really challenging to do.
13:21
And it's a sad way some of our, you know, more fun excursions,
13:25
our international excursions, our ones where kids go over to
13:29
foreign countries and, you know, help build churches or visit
13:33
local communities, those are starting to disappear.
13:35
I mean, even our school camps are disappearing.
13:36
Just because there's like this big administrative layer to.
13:39
Make it happen. There's so much administrative
13:41
load on teachers, but also this really risk averse nature in how
13:45
we approach everything. And I know we do that for safety
13:49
reasons and security reasons, but you know, 150 page document
13:54
on swim safety doesn't help our swim carnival actually be safer.
13:57
It's actually the process as you put in place the people being
14:00
active, you know, sticking a sign up on my pool saying don't
14:03
drown isn't going to stop anyone drowning.
14:06
And we do as a, a very litigious community here in Canberra gets
14:10
stuck on a lot of that. So as a leader, I'm a big person
14:14
of yes, how do we make that happen?
14:15
So to have Steph come to me at the start of the year and just
14:18
be like, I've got an idea. And you know what, we're going
14:21
to make it happen because I'm very passionate about this.
14:23
It's going to impact, you know, heaps of kids.
14:26
But if it impacts one, it's done its job.
14:27
And she was just like, how do we make it happen?
14:29
And you know, we started to tick all the boxes of our risk
14:32
assessments, checking up the different policies to take kids
14:35
off school grounds. We started small.
14:37
We had to change some of our permissions for off site with
14:40
kids. So we started doing a yes, we
14:43
started on site and then we after it was after one term, we
14:47
moved, yeah. Yeah, yeah.
14:49
So we started. Sorry to the field across the
14:51
road. Yeah.
14:51
So we started the recess for resilience inside our school
14:54
gates, which we had pretty solid turnouts for the kids, but I'll
14:57
be honest, it was a pretty sort of run.
15:00
The kids still enjoyed it and got a bit out of it.
15:02
It was a good soft launch into it I think.
15:05
It was we got good regulars, kids that were keen to come and
15:08
exercise, keen to come and chat. But after the that term when we
15:12
built up a bit of that culture about here's our expectations,
15:15
here's some of the language we use to talk to one another.
15:18
We actually trust you. You're showing yourselves to be
15:20
responsible young adults. And these kids are from year
15:23
three to year 6. And we've even had some year
15:24
twos come across recently. We actually go outside the
15:28
school gates to the Oval across the road.
15:30
And that sort of was just the shot in the arm.
15:33
It really needed the kids. There's just this immense pride
15:37
to be able to go outside of the gates to do.
15:39
Something they feel trusted or something or they venturing they
15:42
take. It seriously and they take the
15:43
responsibility. They do.
15:45
One of the kids actually came to Steph earlier this week and was
15:48
like, I can't go on Thursday. I've got the school soccer
15:50
thing. I'm so sorry, I won't be there.
15:52
And it's like, that's cool. And they really identify and
15:56
attach to that day. And it's had a huge impact on a
15:59
really cool group of our kids. But it's had some significant
16:03
impacts. And I guess when we look at
16:04
mental health again, sometimes in all our society, we look for
16:09
big solutions to solve everyone's problem.
16:11
And that's not what mental health is always about.
16:13
It's actually just about making a difference for one person at a
16:15
time. And then let's do it again and
16:17
again and try and impact as many as we can.
16:19
And, you know, in schools we can fall into traps of, oh, there's
16:22
not lots of kids going or, oh, it's, you know, it's quite
16:24
expensive to send two staff out across the Oval for 30 kids.
16:27
Or it's a big imposition or there's a lot of admin work and
16:31
those things die as a result of it.
16:33
But the impact it's had on the kids and a couple of kids if you
16:36
let me talk about them later in particular.
16:38
Why don't you just go now? It's.
16:40
Just been huge, I guess for me, all the kids, it's so good to
16:44
see them rate, you know, one to five or one to 10 how they're
16:46
feeling before and after the run and they all tend to improve.
16:50
But we've got two kids in particular I want to talk about
16:52
1 little boy who's struggling in school at the moment.
16:56
He's just really struggling with some connection, but also
16:59
changes in medication, family routines.
17:02
He has an amazing family that supports him immensely, but he's
17:05
going through a lot of big emotions and struggling to
17:08
connect with his peers and regulate, particularly the end
17:10
of the day. Thursdays are his highlight.
17:13
Like he is at recess for resilience no matter what.
17:15
He could have had a shocking few days, he could have been away a
17:17
few days and he is away a lot. But his attendance on Thursdays
17:22
is near perfect. He comes to recess for
17:24
resilience. He bags us if he misses it, but
17:27
even just to see him come across and you know, the first session
17:30
we had, I think I'd chuckle with you, Ben, because he we do a big
17:34
circle like the heart of the scrum and he just he's like, no,
17:37
don't touch me, don't touch me. And you know, that's part of his
17:40
diagnosis and challenges. He's like don't touch me but by.
17:43
Three or two or three weeks later, he was getting his arms
17:45
in and starting to and. He gets a bit shirty when they
17:48
don't put their arms around him, some of them, but he just the
17:51
positive impact that has on him on a Thursday like it, it's
17:55
worth all the resources and all the admin just to impact that
17:58
one child. And it's incredible to see that
18:00
changing. The second one that I think is a
18:03
really great example is we have a a new student to our school
18:05
again has a number of challenges at school.
18:08
You know, you don't always move schools because things are great
18:11
and moved States and jurisdictions.
18:13
Selective mute student who doesn't talk to a lot of people
18:16
really has had trouble finding her friendship groups and the
18:20
people around. Steph actually was her class
18:22
teacher for most of term 2 and I don't think you heard her speak
18:25
until about the end of term 2 at recess for resilience.
18:29
Yeah, but for her, she like Mondays are pretty cool.
18:33
You know, term one, she never spoke to a single adult, spoke
18:35
to one child, would whisper in her ear.
18:38
In term 2, she had a couple of good friends and they would come
18:40
across to the recess for reliance and do things.
18:43
By the end of term 2, we were just seeing this pattern with
18:45
her. In term 3 where Monday's she'd
18:48
be pretty quiet still, Tuesday she'd start to warm up and wave
18:52
as she walks by my office and you know, start to do that.
18:54
Wednesday was really good and Thursday I was like, Oh my God,
18:57
can you get back in your box? You are so excitable and so
18:59
happy. Even gave up and gave me a huge
19:02
I've been away for a few days. I'll, she came up and gave me a
19:04
huge hug today and just said, oh, I missed you.
19:06
Where were you for running recess for resilience, talking
19:10
to staff and her teachers really noticed that difference across
19:15
the week, really peaking and building up to the Thursdays.
19:18
But it does flow on into other aspects.
19:20
And she's got older, other friends and the friendship
19:22
groups expanded, older kids that will ask her how she's going and
19:26
checking in. And you know, again, we always
19:29
look for these big solutions, magic solutions, put fluoride in
19:32
the water and fix everyone's teeth sort of thing.
19:34
And that's not how mental health works.
19:36
So to impacted those two students and forget all the
19:40
other benefits that come for the other 3040 kids that come on and
19:43
off and love it, as well as the benefits me and Steph get from
19:46
just individually. It's totally worth it.
19:49
And I would recommend any school looks at it because the impact
19:53
it can make in a kid's life. You don't know the the follow on
19:56
that'll have 10 years from now. 20 years from now, yeah.
19:59
What a clip. Isn't that amazing?
20:01
That's. Awesome.
20:03
That and that, I mean, there's a lot to unpack from that one clip
20:06
that that's the one, one of the episodes I walked out and said
20:09
side goosebumps. So much energy from that, that
20:13
discussion with the teachers, Mr Nico.
20:16
And that's been also a highlight, personal highlight
20:17
for me is getting to know Mr Nico this year, Miss O'Neill,
20:21
who you saw briefly, she's the one that reached out to us
20:23
saying, hey, I'd love to start research students at my school.
20:27
But she knew she couldn't do it alone.
20:28
So she went and asked Mr Nico, who's the deputy principal at
20:30
Torrance Primary. And he, he just gets it.
20:33
And I know Brainy, you got pretty excited after watching
20:35
it. When you heard him say got you
20:38
really excited, you would. Have heard it in that in the
20:41
clip and also Mr Hall said something earlier, but just
20:45
reiterated a few things that are for our stands for and in this
20:49
clip, it was one life at a time. You know, it's not the big
20:53
solution, it's the solution for one person and then see if we
20:55
can scale it. And that's got to be at least a
20:59
way forward. And it's just so cool hearing
21:02
other people arrive at similar conclusions in their own story
21:08
because it validates the approach that we're doing.
21:11
And while we're seeing but. But then on that, but then I
21:14
wish we wish I asked the follow up question was like, because
21:18
I've heard from them how much those two students, especially
21:20
the first one, he's in a good place.
21:22
He he's less like a disrupt class and then the whole class
21:25
and then all the other kids get the class run smoother and the
21:27
teachers that love it. They love that he goes to
21:30
because then he he's he just, he just not that fits into the
21:33
right word. But just everything just runs
21:35
smooth and all the kids get less disrupted educational experience
21:40
because of one kid really bet the kid that probably needs it,
21:44
one of the kids that needs it most is benefiting.
21:46
So that just. Yeah, it gives me goosebumps
21:49
watching that. That was.
21:51
Yeah. And the other thing, I mean, it
21:53
really hits on that. Yeah.
21:55
Apart from getting in on Mr Nikko's just been such a
21:57
pleasure. He really hit the nail on the
22:00
head, which I think is a big challenge for our Ferraris.
22:04
Underneath that litigious society, I think is is teachers
22:09
and administrators. Everyone is just crippled with
22:11
anxiety and worried they're going to get sued.
22:13
And I'm really proud that, you know, after I wasn't insured for
22:17
the first four years, we just, I know you're a bit worried for a
22:21
bit brainy, but. Catastrophized.
22:22
Yeah. Yeah.
22:23
Yeah. And I think people, and now we
22:25
complain about our insurance prices all going through the
22:27
roof and stuff because there's this, we're all so worried.
22:32
We're all acting like Chicken Little think the Sky's going to
22:34
fall in and that the worst can happen.
22:36
Sometimes the worst happens. You know, Stromlo did have a
22:38
death at an excursion few years ago with a tragic accident.
22:41
So there's got to be, it's not about being the Wild West and
22:44
letting kids do whatever. And we need to take all these
22:48
crazy risks, but we need to be mindful.
22:50
And I'm so passionate about that.
22:51
A bit where he said, you know, excursions are falling off
22:55
because, you know, we're just putting so much administration
22:57
burden on teachers and that we're actually then crippling
23:01
our kids the future. They're not learning.
23:03
I think a lot of mental health struggles is people can't like
23:08
learn to live outside their comfort zones, which is where
23:11
they start to grow and they just keep retreating back and then
23:13
they, they feel, they feel crap and so.
23:16
But it's something you're really good at and I think it's where
23:19
this can't like it falls over is with safety of volunteers.
23:24
You're very much of the lens. How can we make it as safe as
23:28
possible? Whereas a lot of the people that
23:30
get caught up in this is how can we prevent getting sued?
23:34
And it's like 2 different lenses that often arrive at the same
23:37
requirements because it's like they law mirrors what should be
23:40
reasonable. But yeah, something you're
23:43
really good at and something that obviously Mr Nico and Steph
23:46
are really good at is like, OK, this is a great thing.
23:48
How can we make it as safe as possible?
23:51
Having that, how can we make it happen?
23:52
Not what's all the risks that could happen 'cause our fright
23:56
would have never happened. We've never got started.
23:58
We're worried about insurance. Yeah, never, never happened.
24:01
So like, just, I take a lot out of that and something love R for
24:05
R and recess reserves to play a role in helping schools find a
24:08
better balance with risk and with charity.
24:11
Yeah. So that these kids can actually
24:13
start to find where their boundaries are.
24:15
Because every time they step up, like, and I say with my kids,
24:18
when we give them more responsibility, they actually
24:20
they step up and they grow. And I just, it's just a bit of a
24:24
say, just a trend with society. We're all.
24:27
So anyway, no, not for ranting about it.
24:30
I love the bit where he said doesn't have to be, you know,
24:34
the fluoride in water approach. It can be something as simple as
24:37
taking the kids out for a walk and then getting them to
24:39
connect. And so and like, that's what
24:41
running for resilience is. But it's so simple when you look
24:44
at it on paper, but it works so well.
24:46
Painfully simple. Painfully simple how?
24:48
Well, it works but. But why don't people then?
24:51
Why isn't it better well known? Like why?
24:53
Why does so we're going for all these fluoride in water
24:56
approaches? Why is that?
24:58
Or is this not the time for that conversation?
25:00
We'll go where the go where the flow goes.
25:02
But Lily, do you have? Well, I think people, you know,
25:09
there's a lot of research in science and people like to have
25:12
like evidence that backs things. And maybe we can be part of that
25:16
with the research we're doing with UC that there is evidence
25:20
in these kind of community LED groups that can have big impacts
25:25
on a lot of people the more they grow.
25:28
But yeah, I'm not sure. Maybe people always want
25:31
something more complex, looking for the magic pill that doesn't
25:34
exist. Yeah, I think, I think so.
25:37
I think it's human nature to want to would take the path of
25:42
least resistance in a way. And big solutions offer a really
25:49
nice narrative to problems that, you know, plague so many people,
25:53
but so much of the stuff that anyone injuries starts with
25:58
individual effort and effort of those around them.
26:01
And the bottom up approach is harder road to take, but it's
26:05
it's the most sustainable road to take and it's going to lead
26:09
the most impact. But Gee, Wizard is a bloody
26:11
enticing narrative. When somebody says you don't
26:15
have to brush your teeth anymore, we put fluoride in the
26:17
water. We still need to brush our teeth
26:22
anyway. Yeah.
26:22
But yeah, just to round that one out.
26:24
Also Miss and Neil's amazing. And we really, I guess, let the
26:26
cat out of the bag. Miss and Neil's going to Join
26:28
Now for our team next year to help grow Recess.
26:31
So really exciting times in the Recess resilient space.
26:35
Definitely. Definitely.
26:36
It's interesting because we've like built this at Torrens.
26:41
And it it is a bloody good episode as and.
26:44
We really do have a core group of about 30 students who'll come
26:48
every week this super enthusiastic to be there.
26:52
And I feel like they're, they're always coming just whether they
26:58
like, they're just always there. It's like we almost don't even
27:01
need to do anything. They'll show up because we've
27:03
kind of created this space that they really like.
27:08
And one of the things that I think has made that work so well
27:12
is that message of it's completely optional.
27:16
So if you don't want to come, then don't come.
27:18
If you want to come, then come. And what it means is that all of
27:20
the kids who were there on the day, they're really excited to
27:24
be there. And we've created this like nice
27:27
little community within the school community.
27:31
And I was talking to some of the students, you know, what do you
27:33
like about recess resilience? And they all said the same
27:37
thing. They said that they like being
27:38
part, like they feel like they're part of something and
27:43
they belong somewhere and they they like that they can check in
27:49
with their friends. So even if they're not doing it
27:51
during the week or whatever on a daily basis on Thursdays, they
27:56
are. And they like that they're
27:57
checking in with their friends and they like that they can meet
28:02
other people in the school as well.
28:05
That was something that all of them said they like that it's
28:07
optional. They like that they're checking
28:11
in with their friends. They a lot of them said that
28:13
they feel a lot more energetic afterwards.
28:16
And what was the other thing I said?
28:20
They. Yeah.
28:23
I love how they check in on us too.
28:25
That's something that doesn't happen in schools anymore.
28:28
The days of thanking your teacher at the end of the day
28:30
and the apple on the desk and that which shows my age, you
28:34
know, those things are gone. Parents don't even remember to
28:36
give chocolates after a camp these days.
28:38
But these kids come up to you. And it's not just hey, how are
28:41
you doing today? They genuinely go, how are you?
28:44
And they do it through the week as well.
28:46
They open doors for you. They smile, They notice those
28:49
differences that make a change into that well being.
28:52
And yes, we couldn't have. You couldn't have forced that
28:56
onto kids. You couldn't have put a
28:57
PowerPoint up. You couldn't have done a speech.
28:58
You couldn't have made them do it.
28:59
You just had to create a space, which Steph did, that has
29:02
allowed it to grow. I mean, she's awesome, Mr Neil,
29:05
and she's she just, yeah, she gets it, I think.
29:09
Yeah, we didn't know for a little while what actually
29:11
recessed resilience was, other than just running for resilience
29:13
at schools. But what it actually, it is a
29:16
community within the broader school community, a bit of a
29:19
structure to around meeting or they're just catching up with
29:22
your friends or meeting new students.
29:24
And yeah, Miss, I know if you're watching it couldn't be proud of
29:29
you. And we used to work together at
29:31
KPMG. So we've been friends for a long
29:32
time. And so good to hear all that
29:36
stuff. The optional thing, sometimes
29:40
the violence. How much does it mimic the
29:42
Wednesday night? Yeah, gotta.
29:44
Yeah. Just leave it with.
29:44
The people. It's sometimes the vulnerability
29:49
of something. So you know, people not having
29:52
to go, people being able to leave whenever they want, it
29:55
makes something even more special because everyone's there
29:58
on their own volition. And it's like you're giving
30:01
your, you don't, you're not being forced here.
30:03
So therefore, I know you want to be here, which adds more value
30:06
to this relationship, so to say. And it's obviously working at
30:11
that level too. But I've always kind of observed
30:13
it with AFRAT, the fact that anybody who contributes so often
30:17
to AFRAT could just leave at any point, but they don't because
30:21
they love it. It's like we're on a knife's
30:24
edge. But it seems very well balanced.
30:27
It's just a it's a cool, cool feature of our community and the
30:32
community that's growing there. And massive kudos to torrents
30:36
primary because I think getting, well, I mean, I don't have kids
30:39
and I don't operate with kids that often, but I feel like
30:42
getting kids to voluntarily do something and love it at school
30:47
would have been a bit of a challenge initially.
30:49
And the fact that they've been able to pull that off and get
30:52
kids loving it and asking about it and wanting to do it, even if
30:55
they're not setting it up is massive.
30:56
And it would have, like they said, a huge impact on so many
30:59
kids lives. And it's, it's amazing.
31:03
The ripple effect too, even like you said, the behaviour with the
31:07
the kid who is now improving the the.
31:10
The class from all the students around, he goes back in a better
31:13
self regulated, in a better state.
31:15
Yeah, in the classroom. Like a reset?
31:17
But these kids are getting better habits of checking in on
31:21
other people of. Checking in on the teachers.
31:23
Opening doors and those little ripples, they make a difference.
31:27
You know, like we spoke about, like the text from Rich can help
31:30
or, you know, a message from someone can just help you break
31:33
a little bit of whatever cycle of thought you're in, a friendly
31:38
person opening the door for you, you know, making eye contact,
31:41
making a smile that can tilt someone's day towards a better
31:44
day. And if we have a community of
31:47
people constantly interacting with each other more positively,
31:50
that's, that's part of the classroom cohesion, but also
31:55
community cohesion as well. It's like, it's cool.
31:57
It's cool to say. It's cool to say at work on a
32:00
few ways. No recess could be something
32:03
cool. And thanks to all the other
32:05
schools as well, Forest Prime, Mr Robson, Mr Hall from and Mr
32:08
Weatherall and Georgie Mackett Grammar and obviously OG Mr Buck
32:13
at Sinclair's. So thank you to everyone that's
32:15
put in a recess and made it what it is, and long may it continue.
32:19
Long may it continue. And then what about zooming out
32:22
over the course of a year? So that's like in a weekly so,
32:25
but what is there any interest like just trends you guys?
32:28
I hate saying this because it's my happiest time of the year.
32:31
It always was. And now I have a very real
32:34
appreciation for the fact that for many more people, Christmas
32:38
and the holiday season is the toughest time.
32:42
And I think that's for many reasons.
32:45
And, and you can probably relate to this, It's when you start to
32:48
reflect and you start to imagine, or you're forced to
32:52
imagine a world without people, or you've lost people or you're
32:55
struggling with relationships or financially.
32:58
It's the time to be merry. It's in your face everywhere you
33:00
go. I walked you through the
33:02
shopping centre because we're now based at the centre and the
33:05
the carols are up and the trees are out.
33:07
And I love it. But at the same time, I'm
33:10
reminded that for so many more people, it's a tough time.
33:13
They feel more isolated because it's stress, family or visiting.
33:17
Not everyone has the same experience with with friends or
33:21
family. So over the summer period here
33:23
in Australia we see the highest rate of suicide.
33:26
Pretty confronting for this time of year, isn't it?
33:29
Yeah, I thought it was an important clip to highlight
33:36
because it is very relevant. We're what, 5-6 days out from
33:39
Christmas? And it is in your face that it's
33:42
the happiest time of the year. And everyone's going to
33:44
Christmas parties, talking about their holiday plans.
33:47
And if you're not in a great place, it can be really tough to
33:53
sort of be in that environment and just sort of question why
33:56
you're not in a good place and what's going wrong.
33:57
And even if you're physically with other people, you can feel
34:00
so isolated and yeah, it can be really tough.
34:04
So I think all of our runs going ahead in some capacity.
34:10
So I wanted to highlight that there will be those runs.
34:12
So if you're feeling lonely, that you can turn up to any of
34:15
our usual runs and there'll be some people there.
34:18
The contrast can really highlight what you might be
34:24
feeling like if you're alone. And you, like, we found when we
34:26
got feedback that big crowds can actually be a lonely place
34:30
because I guess, like, it's in your face or they're saying
34:33
other people interact and they're like, well, I don't have
34:35
anyone to interact with. And so same with Christmas.
34:38
Like, wow, all the families are getting together.
34:40
I'm lonely. Or maybe there is, like Carrie
34:42
said, extra stress at Christmas that adds to it.
34:47
The other thing I wanted to highlight, and I want to preface
34:49
this by saying I think it's important that we do celebrate
34:52
our wins and it's important to reflect back on the year we've
34:55
had and, and be proud of what we've achieved and the memories
34:58
that we've created with our loved ones and friends.
35:01
But I do tend to see this time of year on social media that
35:05
people start to sort of post their highlights of the year.
35:09
And I think that's amazing, as I just said.
35:11
But if you're in a negative frame of mind or even not, if
35:16
you just feel like you haven't achieved those sort of big
35:19
ticket items that society says, like, you know, promotions,
35:23
marriages, babies, whatever, it can be really tough to sort of
35:29
scroll through your feed and just saying that a lot because
35:32
you sort of start to compare be like, I haven't done any of
35:35
that. What's wrong with me?
35:37
So I could be the only one that does this.
35:39
This could just be something I need to do, but I thought it
35:41
would be a good thing. You don't have to share it with
35:43
anyone. But maybe if you're feeling like
35:45
that, put your phone away. But just think about three
35:48
things that you're proud of yourself that you've done this
35:50
year because everyone has done something.
35:53
It might not be the promotion or the engagement, but everyone's
35:58
achieved lots of things. And it's important to reflect
36:01
back and be proud and then maybe set some goals for the next
36:04
year. But yeah, I, I just, it can be
36:07
tough this time of year with that aspect as well.
36:10
Yeah, it's just trying to be grateful for what, like kind of
36:16
the theme that's becoming this podcast episode is people are
36:20
enough. Yeah, people are enough.
36:22
You know, whilst everyone's different from the next person,
36:26
it's you just got to try your best to be comfortable with who
36:30
you are and what you're trying to do.
36:32
Yep. Improve, follow ambition through
36:34
curiosity, but you're enough. And that little three things.
36:40
That's like a daily journal, but just applied to the year and
36:43
just a great, great idea. Yeah.
36:46
And I also if if I don't want people to be thinking I'm coming
36:49
out to get them if they are posting like the big things that
36:52
they have achieved on SO. I've got a big plant post plan
36:54
next I'll. Definitely yes.
36:55
I don't. Think.
36:55
And with that, 2024 is in review.
36:58
Yeah. 2024. Was that was the that was the
37:01
trend last year? Yeah, I haven't.
37:02
Seen him. I don't I don't think that
37:03
that's there's anything wrong with doing that at all.
37:05
And as I said, I think as a society, we should celebrate our
37:09
wins more because I think we sort of that whole tall poppy
37:12
syndrome, people don't like to do that as much as we should.
37:15
And it's definitely, you know, it's if you've achieved things
37:18
throughout the year, you should be proud of that.
37:20
And yeah, so don't. I'm not having a go at anyone
37:22
who does that. No, but I think your your point
37:25
I agree with is that I share my wins because I've shared my
37:28
losses. So I like and I do agree and why
37:31
I love the rag And when you shared your eating disorder in
37:34
the second newsletter, then I opened up for everyone to people
37:38
started sharing losses like tough things in life.
37:41
And it helped me realise that shit, everyone's got crap going
37:45
on. And even if they don't now,
37:46
they've had it in the past, so they're going to have it in the
37:47
future. And it just that the newsletter
37:49
which is this is now an evolution of help me.
37:52
It's now very clear to me that people, if they're only if
37:56
they're only sharing highlights, they're hiding highlights
37:59
because we all have them and that's normal and you don't have
38:02
to share them. But it's just helped me.
38:04
Yeah, I know. And I've thanked you plenty of
38:06
times for your vulnerability in the newsletter.
38:09
Then was a big step in me and you, Brandy, sharing you 2
38:11
probably the most. Sharing your stories has helped
38:14
me have the courage or feel comfortable.
38:17
Not so much courage but feel uncomfortable to share mine.
38:19
So thank you to both of you. Yeah, and be honest, isn't it?
38:22
It's like if you're just being honest, you're not wearing a
38:24
mask, you're not spending energy on wearing a mask.
38:27
With more comfortable we can be with being honest with each
38:30
other. The the more we are ourselves,
38:34
the more we are ourselves, the the more use.
38:36
The more use, the more practise we get at paying ourselves,
38:39
which is a good thing. It was a challenging,
38:43
challenging time, and I think one of the things that did help
38:47
me immensely was someone very dear to me told me to go to R
38:51
for R and I started running and I just remember thinking my head
38:56
was about to explode. Like I, I literally days before
39:01
I tried to take my life, my dad came and met me.
39:03
I rang him up, thank goodness what I did.
39:06
And I met him at Braidwood and I remember being in the park at
39:09
Braidwood. We met halfway, just all of my
39:11
eyes out, uncontrollable sobbing, snot, everything.
39:15
It was I just like everything came out and and this person
39:20
encouraged me to go to R for R and I never forget I turned up
39:24
in this crowd on a Wednesday night.
39:27
Nobody knew what was going on inside of here.
39:29
Nobody knew that days before. I want to try to take my life.
39:34
I thought, what do I do? I don't even feel like talking
39:36
to anyone. I hadn't really run before.
39:39
Most I was doing was 2 kilometres here and there.
39:42
And I, and I've said this to the guy that helped me, but he
39:45
didn't even know. But I, I found this big massive
39:48
guy with a beard, red beard footy player is Jack Simpson.
39:53
And, and, and I, yeah, I just ran behind him for three months
39:57
and whatever he did, I copied. So you're mad, man.
40:01
Yeah, and he's fit. Like I was like, what?
40:03
So I was like dying inside and then physically dying, trying to
40:07
chase up. But we didn't talk.
40:11
I didn't introduce myself. I just, he became my steady
40:17
helping balance back to my my inner man and the rhythm, I just
40:23
the breathing, he was at peace. He was chilled.
40:26
I watched how he ran. So he just cruised.
40:30
And then the last couple of KS he'd lift it.
40:32
So I learned all about running, but it actually helped bring
40:35
stability to my life. And then I walked up to him and
40:38
I said three months after I said, Hey, hey, you don't know
40:43
me, but I'm Murray. And he goes, I don't know who
40:45
you are. He goes, you're that guy that's
40:47
been following me for three months and he's an absolute
40:51
champion. And I only just shared this with
40:53
him recently because I entered into the Capital Coast.
40:58
I've only been running a couple of years, but I like to push
41:00
myself now. And I entered in Capital Coast,
41:02
which is 100K run. And I wanted A-Team mate.
41:06
And he chucked his hand up and we ran just like, just to, to be
41:11
part of it. And we end up getting a placing
41:13
like a podium finished Jack and I, and we're good mates now.
41:16
And he really brought stability to my life without even knowing
41:20
it, you know? Jack Simpson, one of the one of
41:22
the best. I mean, everyone's good, but
41:25
he's great. And Murray super brave to be
41:29
that vulnerable on the podcast. And he lost his wife to cancer
41:33
and then obviously went through his own struggles.
41:36
I think you might have picked this clip as well.
41:38
But the reason I picked it, I just loved.
41:42
I had the same. I got goosebumps walking out of
41:44
this podcast, Natalie Ryan Murray with Rise Above.
41:47
But I just loved the symbolic or the symbolism of Simo.
41:55
Didn't know what he was doing. He was just there.
41:57
He was rocking up. You know, he supports our Farah,
42:01
but him just turning up every week had an effect on Murray and
42:06
gave him that like he says, that steady hand through the
42:11
tumultuous waters that he was swimming through.
42:13
But I just love it. I love that's just symbolic of
42:17
our fraud. Every week, no matter what,
42:21
we're there and people can just use it.
42:24
You I picked it as well. First of all, the whole episode
42:27
I watched it or listened to it at work and luckily I was in by
42:32
myself that day because I was just crying.
42:33
It was it was beautiful. But so it was so moving.
42:38
But what I thought about this clip is I remember years ago
42:41
when you were first handing out the first hoodies or caps or
42:44
whatever, and we sort of went up to you and said, well, how can
42:47
we pay you for this? And while we're at it, how can
42:49
we donate to support you? And you said no, no, no, no.
42:54
You're just by turning up. That's how you're contributing
42:58
to running for Resilience and that's exactly what in that
43:03
story there because obviously funding and money is really
43:06
important that it's helped us, you know, be able to expand our
43:08
services and now and who we can help.
43:11
But you couldn't put money on what in on what Jacked in that
43:15
situation. And without knowing the impact,
43:18
Yeah. Without knowing the impact that
43:19
he had on Murray's life. And I just thought it was the
43:21
most beautiful story. And I like to think, and I'm
43:25
pretty sure there would be so many other stories similar to
43:28
that that people aren't comfortable to share yet.
43:30
And that's completely fine. But just knowing that the impact
43:33
that we're having on on real lives is huge.
43:35
Oh. I I love them.
43:37
Apart from Simmo. You're a bloody legend.
43:38
Up the hours and yeah, hood hood, hood like that.
43:42
It was Simmo being consistent was what what we maybe think
43:48
consistency is boring, but it was Simo being consistent is
43:52
what helped. Murray didn't know which way was
43:54
up head going to explode but he knew at 6:00 PM this big red
43:59
headed monster is going to be there and I'm going to just fall
44:02
in single file behind him and just try and keep up with him
44:04
like that. When people are struggling, it's
44:07
that, I mean, you said with Lifeline, they're there like
44:10
it's consistent. Park Run was there for me when I
44:13
was really struggling when I first retired.
44:15
I knew 6P, sorry, 8:00 AM on Saturday to Saturday, get down
44:19
to Burley Gryphon Park Run and my mates would be there and I'd
44:22
get that energy boost that I really needed at that point.
44:26
So yeah, yeah. While after welcoming and not
44:32
diversity, but what's the word like welcoming inclusion there
44:36
or buzzwords? I think AFRA should be known
44:37
most for is consistency more so than welcoming.
44:41
If we're consistent, I think that's what yeah, people
44:45
desperate, of course they want welcoming and community and all
44:48
that stuff, but they need that consistently.
44:50
And that's what I think we've we're doing really well along
44:53
with Park Run and many other organisations.
44:55
But I think it's just, and we've talked about it, they get
44:59
important. The fact that AFRA.
45:01
But is your idea at the start got to be has?
45:03
To be the same time, it has to be consistent.
45:06
So in someone that is struggling, they know it's
45:09
there. They know they can rely on it
45:10
when the rest of their life might not be going how they
45:12
want. They know that one event in
45:14
their week is rock solid. It's locked in.
45:17
It's going to be their energy boost to help them deal with all
45:20
the ups and downs and the uncertainty in their week.
45:24
Yeah, and you don't have to be a simo that goes every week, but
45:28
by turning up, you're telling people so you believe in what
45:33
our for us stands for. It's no one's destined for
45:36
suicide. Whatever you're feeling is real.
45:38
But people seeing that people believe that, it almost gives
45:41
them a bit of breathing room to go, OK, you know, there's a bit
45:46
of validation there that I'm going through something that's
45:49
normal. I can get through it and I'll
45:51
and I'll keep pushing forward. So yeah, it's so important
45:55
people turn it up and. Somebody didn't try and fix
45:57
Murray. That's how we talked about he
46:00
was just doing a thing, did his thing, just did his thing and
46:02
just let Murray do his thing. Even though we recognise and
46:05
there's. This bloke behind me, he's
46:08
absolutely legend. Love you, Murray.
46:10
Yeah. It wasn't like Murray didn't
46:12
need fixing. Murray didn't need fixing.
46:14
It wasn't broken. He just was in there.
46:15
He was just going through a rough patch, which is totally
46:18
understandable if you lost your loved one at such a young age.
46:21
I'd be a mess with it if I lost Jen.
46:25
So it's totally normal. It's not that I'm broken.
46:27
It's that is a very traumatic, hard thing to go through in
46:30
life. And, and yeah, Murray was able
46:33
to work through it in his own way.
46:35
And latch. Onto someone.
46:36
He was able to, yeah, Simmo's consistency, help Murray get
46:39
into running, and then that's helped Murray work through
46:41
everything and just. Yeah, love.
46:43
He's got such a great energy, Murray when you're, I mean sort
46:45
of Simmo, but when you're around him.
46:47
He's got a presence. Positive, grateful guy.
46:51
Super interesting guy as well. I highly encourage anyone to
46:54
ever run with him and chat with him.
46:56
I'm really, really good guy. I hope that this clip finds its
47:00
way to someone's ears who either is struggling and can see sort
47:05
of the effect that coming to Running for Resilience can have,
47:08
or like Murray's friend who recommended he did come to.
47:12
Run the freeze. Lines.
47:13
Oh, wow. You told me it was a doctor.
47:14
There you go. Yeah.
47:15
I hope that, you know, if you have a friend or you know
47:17
someone that's struggling that suggesting running for
47:20
resilience could be something that really has a positive
47:23
impact on their life. So definitely something to keep
47:26
in mind. And kudos to Murray as well for
47:30
pulling his socks up and going because a lot of people getting
47:32
through struggles, it comes from them first.
47:35
And it's so good that when that meets somebody willing to help,
47:39
that's when the great stories. Happen when kudos on his dad for
47:41
a meeting in Bradwood. Just and that person, the person
47:45
that it's great, it's great to see.
47:48
I think that's the last clip. But how do we think the pub?
47:50
And obviously there's some amazing not to go the highlights
47:54
and low lights, but we've just shed our highlights of the year.
47:58
But spook? You with this?
47:59
I mean, how, Yeah, yeah. How do you guys think it's went?
48:03
And what are you guys excited for the year ahead with the pod
48:06
Pod lawns, Dash studio pending You guys have is back.
48:09
Yeah, yeah, yeah. We're not counting our chickens
48:11
before the edge. I think just the, what you were
48:15
saying, it's sort of like we started this storytelling in the
48:18
Rag and now we've just gone to a different platform as well as
48:21
the Rag. But I think sharing stories just
48:24
makes our community so much stronger.
48:26
And like, you know, the example of just of Mari sharing that
48:29
story when he felt comfortable, but the impact that that would
48:32
have on so many people listening to that is huge.
48:35
And so if we can just continue to build on the story, the
48:39
stories that we're sharing, we're going to reach more people
48:42
and help more people. 100% I, I remember we'll probably get him
48:48
on the podcast, but Sammy, Sammy.
48:51
Will not sure we no. No, not sure we will.
48:53
Maybe him? Yeah, not on the Waratahs.
48:56
Yeah, he writes for sobering thoughts.
48:59
And when he was going through like a real patch of writing and
49:03
sharing his story, there was so many times where I'd read
49:05
something he thought, and it would be a similar thought in my
49:08
head, and I could just feel my shoulders relax.
49:11
And I see it at R for R and I see these stories doing the same
49:15
thing when somebody says something that is not often
49:18
talked about, but so common, you can see people go, oh, thank
49:23
God, like I'm not alone. And even just also showing
49:27
people that I think like married, just like a little gem
49:30
there. You know, I was down.
49:31
I was dying inside and I was dying running.
49:35
But he was, he was smiling about it.
49:37
And the ability to find humour even from the darkest points,
49:42
like I, I can look back and laugh at how my brain wasn't
49:46
working as it should have in my heart because you're just, you
49:49
can look back at it a different way.
49:50
And I think these sorts of conversations show different
49:54
ways to tread through different struggles or different good
49:58
parts of life. And it's just like we're showing
50:01
each other our homework and helping learn to all get the
50:04
best mark possible. I mean, I my reflection on that
50:09
on the year, it's bloody hard podcasting.
50:11
I know people think everyone does a potty, but to host a
50:14
podcast, actually quite hard to host a decent one and to stay
50:18
present, but keep it structured and and keep it on on time and
50:22
actually don't go over, which we're nearly nearly going over
50:25
here. So it's been a huge learning
50:28
experience and you can look huge just communication challenge.
50:32
But I agree, like the stories that we're sharing here is can
50:35
only strengthen R for R, I feel we lost our and I'm really proud
50:40
of where this season 2 where we've wrapped up.
50:42
I think all the last episodes have been awesome and I've
50:45
certainly taken something out, learned something from all of
50:47
them. Feel we lost our way a little
50:49
bit. And I wanted to ban the word
50:51
running. I was going to let's can we not
50:52
talk about anything about running?
50:53
Like because I mean, running we all know is not about the
50:56
running. But I'm really proud of how
50:59
we've course corrected and I think there are just some
51:01
amazing stories that I'm 100% certain will help people.
51:07
Absolutely. Now the challenge is getting
51:09
these stories out there because people I know and I've been
51:12
struggling with everyone, TikTok, they're on all they're
51:16
just consuming numbing stuff. So I can see the challenge for
51:20
us next year is just keep bringing these great stories
51:25
from the community to light. But how can we get them then in
51:28
front of the people that need them?
51:30
That's I guess what I, yeah, amazingly proud of what we've
51:34
done this year, but that's I guess the thing I think about
51:37
for next year. Yeah, in two ways we can and.
51:40
Then we've got ideas how to do it.
51:41
How do we get these stories in front of it?
51:43
We want to hear more from the audience comments.
51:46
We don't get many comments or questions to ask guests.
51:49
We really want to get. I feel we could get way more
51:53
like community participation in the storytelling.
51:57
Yeah, maybe Hey, this is the schedule of the people we're
51:59
we're going to interview next year.
52:01
What questions, what questions the community want to know if we
52:04
we said this, I wanted to be a community podcast.
52:07
Maybe that's how through more community participation in the
52:10
comments, in the in the organising of guests, in the
52:15
questions for the episodes. Yeah, maybe that's the way we
52:18
can make it more community rather than obviously we tried
52:20
to have lots of different hosts. We tried to figure figure out
52:23
our formula or a sustainable consistent formula, which we
52:26
just said is pretty vital to all things are for.
52:29
Us, yeah. I also like, yeah, everything
52:33
you said. One of the things I also hope
52:35
comes from this podcast is, OK, how do we get conversations in
52:39
front of people? I think a lot of responsibility
52:41
rests on people who've been through something and gotten
52:43
through it well to share their stories with their friends and
52:47
being open book in that way, you know, yes, asking if people are
52:51
right is great, but also just when the moment's right around
52:55
dinner table, just no, no big Hoover.
52:58
You don't need to be on a podcast to Share your story you.
53:00
Don't need to be on a podcast to Share your story.
53:01
And I think the more we get that people, the more we get that
53:04
behaviour going by the people who have been through it and
53:07
gotten through it. I think that's the that's a key
53:12
to scaling the message because it's a behaviour, if that's a
53:14
behaviour in and amongst all of our communities within Canberra
53:18
and abroad, abroad that is a behaviour that will improve the
53:24
resilience of people around it. It's like it'll ripple.
53:27
It's. Normalising.
53:29
Conversations. Yeah, there's conversations.
53:31
And I think like normalising it, you can, you can say it like
53:34
I've spoken with friends where I'll go, yeah, this happened and
53:38
I wasn't in a good way, but got through it and I got through
53:41
this. And then there's a bit of
53:42
silence because they're not sure how to respond.
53:44
And then you move on. And then you realise that it's
53:47
not, it doesn't have to be like a violin come in and a big
53:51
moment where it's like, Oh my God, like, are you OK?
53:53
It's like, hey, it's sometimes it's just part of life and.
53:56
Yeah, life happens. Diluting it a little bit helps
53:59
people approach. It doesn't look like this big
54:01
mountain. It's like, OK, maybe I can just
54:04
do one thing and then hopefully be better and then do one more
54:07
thing and hopefully be better. And I think conversations help
54:10
that help make it normal. Anything Curtis final wrap up
54:18
before we wrap up for the year? No, thank you guys for all the
54:23
help and support. I think I've probably annoyed
54:26
you both with a lot of messages saying I'm stressed, but I
54:31
appreciate it and thank you and looking forward to next year.
54:34
Yeah, pumped. And good luck with your reward
54:37
Benny. Or hopefully, hopefully, you'll
54:39
be the local hero of Australia. Pressure though.