By Staff Writer Alistair Gray
The nation and the world have been shocked by cricketing legend Shane Warne’s passing. A man who lived life to the full, loved to have fun, had a strong passion for his family, and gave back to the community tenfold.
The TV and papers have been full of “Warnie Stories”, and below is a small story I wrote about Shane Warne back on 10 March 2016, which shows what an extraordinary man he was. I have repurposed the article for relevance today. Enjoy!
Photo by Damon On Road on Unsplash
March 2016
Love or hate reality TV, last night, those who watched Channel 10’s “I am a Celebrity, Get Me Out of Here” program, would have witnessed a powerful piece of TV. Here we saw the incredible power of personal character to dig deep, of mateship and the tremendous strength required to get something done, so as not to let your fellow teammates down. Set in the African jungle, a group of Australian celebrities, living in very basic camp conditions, had to perform personally challenging tasks to earn essential food for survival in the camp.
That night after a series of celebrity evictions, the camp was down to the final five, Anthony Callea, Brendan Fevola, Laurina Fleure, Paul Harragon and Shane Warne.
To earn an ice-cream spider dessert, each celebrities was asked to hold a venomous Baboon Tarantula spider in their hands for 30 seconds. The catch being, that each had to complete the task or forfeit the dessert. So naturally, after about five weeks of living on beans, rice and camp cooking, the players craved dessert.
Easy you may say! Each contestant confronted their fears and completed the task until it was Shane Warne’s turn, our world-famous cricketer. Shane had a real phobia of spiders. This phobia being worse than any other fear. His body convulsed and his hands shook at the thought. You watched his colour drain as adrenaline pumped through his body. Shane was not in a good way! Sitting at home that night, I wondered whether this should be allowed to happen on TV especially considering the severity of his condition.
Then, with incredible personal strength and the love, support and encouragement of his teammates, Shane extended his hand, successfully holding the Tarantula for 30 seconds. Shane Warne pushed through, despite being in enormous personal pain (something most of use will never understand) to achieve and overcome, so that his campmates and fellow competitors, could enjoy the coveted dessert. An experience so personally traumatising that it took a day for him to recover.
As I watched Shane’s incredibly courageous performance, I thought to myself, ‘there are some powerful lessons here’. Not only from Shane’s performance, but, all the celebrities, who it appears had been on a enormous and challenging personal development program. They had each been tested and endured through, to achieve things previously thought impossible, due mainly to their mindset and personal values. After all, it is not customary in our protected lives, to throw oneself off a 200-meter dam wall in a safety harness, to eat rats and maggots, or to put oneself in a water tank with snakes and crocodiles. Yet, at the same time, most completed their assigned tasks for the benefit and survival of their fellow teammates.
I’m sure some of you will remember this show when it aired here on Bribie. It warranted a huge impact at the time.
The question I ask is, how can you tap into this enormous powerful inner strength in your personal life or in your business? The power to break through your own limiting beliefs, paradigms, and constraints, to excel. To achieve outcomes previously thought impossible. Nothing is stopping you except yourself. So instead, forget about what others think and focus on being the best you can be.
A unique quality Shane Warne showed us all! RIP Shane Warne.
You are unlikely to see a Tarantula spider here on beautiful Bribie Island, as they are more common around North Western Queensland, however are found in most States. Different to the African variety, the Whistling, Barking, or Bird-Eating Spiders are the Australian equivalent Tarantula spider. According to the Australian Museum, they are known for their sound and have a leg span up to 16cm. The Tarantula’s bite is venomous and painful but not life-threatening.
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