Why Worry?

 

As many of you will know, up until around 2 years ago I was very active and forthright with my views on what I thought should happen within our hobby to drag it into the current century and make it more professional. A few of my comments were at times a little controversial, generating a massive support on one side and fierce criticism on the other. When I read back over some of them now I do wince a little, they were a little close to the bone in some cases! The thoughts of bringing large organisations together really interested me, strong viewpoints on long distance racing and bringing things “Back to Basics” to make pigeon racing accessible to more people were strong beliefs which I held, and in some cases still hold. The “Back to Basics” series which was run generated massive feedback and I have made some good friends who I still converse with regularly today. But a lot can happen in two years, things change, people change, the hobby changes, I’ve changed! Two years ago life changed quite dramatically for me in the space of just 6 months.

 

 

June 2015, Abbie was born. Now there is somebody who does not worry one bit! Paint on her hands, so what? Biscuit in the mud, who cares? Eating a worm, why does it matter? Oh to be approaching two years old again without a worry or a care in the world. The biggest issue Abbie has is which dolly to go to bed with at night. My older two girls don’t live with me, and although I have a great relationship with them I really want to cherish every moment of Abbie growing up so some things have to take a back seat, pigeons mainly! In this respect keeping things simple and basic is an absolute godsend! Now, in July 2015 there was a seismic shift in my outlook on life but I’ll come back to that.

 

October 2015, the house move! The terraced garden which I loved so dearly, the two up, two down inner city dwelling that Em and I had made our own was no more, we needed to move! Abbie was growing quickly, Elise and Lacey needed their own space for when they came to stay, now was the time…………. BIGGER GARDEN! It’s about 130 foot, some of you may have seen it on social media and the like, it’s everything a small team fancier could dream of, but it doesn’t come without its challenges. Being 100 foot from the house in the rain, cold and snow of a drizzly November morning is no fun, especially when I had been used to just nipping out the back door and being in my loft within 10 steps at the old house. A small price to pay though to see the girls playing in the garden, rolling on the grass, kicking a ball around, things which we had never been able to do at Newport Street. One thing I was set on though was to make sure I didn’t have masses of birds despite the generous space on offer to me. With the help of Gaz Marsh we constructed the 16x6 loft from my Grandad’s and doctored the 8x6 shed to become the stock loft, perfect. One problem stuck out like a sore thumb though. Open hole was not going to be as easy at this place! Sounds crazy doesn’t it! Loads of space, away from lots of houses, greenery all around………….but not possible to cat proof the garden. Again, simplicity has had to take a front seat and with a few little tweaks and using some advice from a couple of Internet articles and some Facebook friends, the open hole method looks like it could possibly be something that I can again work with, nice and simple. (A recurring theme is that.)

 

Keeping in line with my non-chronological story, I am going to rewind to the events of July 2015 as I mentioned earlier on. My best mate, best man at my wedding, more like a brother than a friend, pals since we were 4 years old, was killed by a car. Now that’s a wake up call. Paul Flanagan, or “Larry” as we all knew him, had just become an Uncle to Olly for the first time 2 months previously; he’d never met Abbie unfortunately. He’d traveled the world. Lived in Australia and Gibralter, traveled all across Europe and South East Asia, done America, the Caribbean, South Africa and many more places which elude my memory at this moment in time, needless to say some of these places were a little bit off the track and we all worried about him when he was away. Larry had “lived for the moment”, reveled in it and was then killed 300 yards from his home. That was it, my philosophy on life changed in an instant. Well not quite. When you have been a meticulous planner for 10-15 years, basically my whole adult life, you don’t just stop. However, the last few months have really made me realise what’s important in life. Abbie’s arrival, the effort on the new house, my older girls growing up and Larry’s passing have all aligned to give me a new outlook on life. What’s the worst that can happen? That’s the question I keep asking myself. Whatever decision needs making, that’s the first question I think of. What’s the worst that can happen?

 

These thoughts were then escalated in October 2016. I had become quite close with a fancier named Paul Stokes, again some of you may know Paul from social media or the various chat rooms that he frequents. Paul sent me a fairly detailed email to tell me he was off, emigrating to South Africa! Paul and Becky had been planning it for a fair old while and despite numerous clues, such as him sending everything in his loft to every BICC race last year, and then on to St Vincent International, or him seeking advice regarding his existing property, not once had I put two and two together. The South Coast of Africa was getting a new resident and I could not wish them enough good luck, or praise them highly for going to have a crack, what’s the worst that could happen? I knew it wouldn’t take too long for him to get birds sorted and lo and behold, Paul has now got some breeders sorted and will be racing very soon no doubt. I won’t lie to you all, I am very jealous!

 

If we think about it we are only here once and we all end up in the same place, so it may as well be enjoyable whilst we are here. Larry loved life to the full, Abbie absolutely does not give a monkey’s what people think and the Stokes family is following their dreams. I made some decisions. Two decisions really.

 

1. If I am not happy doing something, then stop doing it. Whether that be work related, family related, house related, pigeon related, spare time related, just stop doing it.

 

2. Stop worrying. Don’t be bothered with things out of my control that don’t affect me, what’s the point?

 

Now I know the above has been a bit long winded to get us to this stage, but I feel a bit of meat on the bones is necessary so people can see these decisions have not been taken lightly, although really they should have been the easiest decisions in the world if I had just followed my gut. Society though so often works against us and intimates what we should be happy with, and whether we can do X, Y or Z. I say screw society and do what you want to do make you happy. How does this all fit into pigeon racing? Like so many things in my life, it’s simple.

 

DON’T WORRY!!!!!

I see week after week people screaming blue murder about the amount of small clubs around, the small amount of members, don’t worry about it! If that club is ran to the rules laid out by the RPRA, doesn’t cause any hassle, and gives members in that area the opportunity to fly pigeons, why get stressed about it? For all we know it could be the only chance that 3 x 80 year old fanciers have to compete in this great hobby. Why would we want to jeopardise that? That viewpoint by the way totally contradicts my view from 2 years ago.

 

I see fanciers getting worked up into a near rage state when the subject of sections gets discussed, whether it’s in the BICC, the NFC, the BBC, the MNFC. Again, why worry!! Those are the sections, if you want to send, send, if you don’t, don’t, simple. If you do want to have an input and feel it is worth pursuing then by all means go along to meetings, discuss the point in a civilised manner, maybe join the committee, make a real difference. Just don’t sit on the sidelines getting all hissy about it, there’s no point, don’t worry!

 

NRCC Dunbar was last weekend, they use a Geraldy trailer. The release mechanism came under question from various members of the Facebook fraternity. They aren’t even in the NRCC, WHY WORRY!!!! I’m a little upset with myself on this point actually as I put my two-peneth in, more so because I am good friends with Darren Shepherd, the NRCC convoyer, than because it bothers me, as it really doesn’t, I fly South!

 

 

Lastly on this topic, your birds. Surely in pigeon racing this must be the most important thing in your pigeon world. It’s no good worrying about what other fanciers are doing, how many they are sending, what’s going to happen next week, next month, and next year. What will happen will happen and unless you decide to get involved on committees there’s not too much that can be done so don’t worry! Personally, I have made the conscious decision to fly my birds for my own benefit now, nobody else’s. Why do people care whether I get my birds from the race or not, or where I am sending them next, they’re my birds?! I sent 4 to Alencon with the BICC last week; I was miles behind but got 3 on the day. I’m over the moon, totally content and now I can start thinking about what to do next. I urge you all to be like this, I can assure the best fanciers think like this. I’m not saying everybody who thinks like this is a top fancier, but NONE OF THE TOP FANCIERS in this country worry one bit about what anybody else is doing! And so what if a vast majority of the fanciers who don’t worry aren’t top fanciers, I know one thing…...they are damn sight happier than many fanciers I know. Fly your birds for your own enjoyment and as long as you are happy with them then you don’t need to care what anybody else thinks. If you want a clock set, have one set, if you don’t want one set, then don’t have one set. If you want to train, then do it, if you don’t want to, don’t do it. It’s really simple, honestly!

 

And finally. Just to put things into perspective from my end regarding the birds and to give you some more reading matter, have a look online about a guy from New Zealand called Mac Armstrong. Now that’s how to race pigeons on a basic method! I shall try and enlighten you a little more about Mac over the coming weeks with some assistance from an acquaintance in New Zealand. I can now say, hand on heart, I keep pigeons for my own enjoyment, I don’t care what anybody else thinks, and I don’t care that I am racing in a manner which is not “the norm”. I suppose quite worryingly I have been using Nic Harvey as my Pigeon Psychologist!  For those of you that know Nic then that could be a very dangerous thing to do. But you know what, Nic is so happy in regards to his birds whenever I speak with him. He worries about precisely nothing! A great attitude to have. So remember the questions and mindsets from this article.

 

1. Is what I am currently doing making me happy? If not, change it.

2. What is the worst that can happen if I do this?

3. Don’t worry about decisions you have made, they more often than not won’t kill you!

  

I asked myself those first two questions about 3 months ago and quit my job. I wasn’t happy. I had been an estate agent for nearly 10 years and didn’t want to do it any more, what’s the worst that can happen? I’m now happier than I have been in the last two years; I’m racing birds in Nationals and being a part of my daughters growing up. I may not be the richest man in the world, but I’m still here. When I think about Larry, just being here and being happy is not a bad option is it really….?

 

If this helps one person to become 1% happier then the last hour and a half writing this piece has been well invested.

  

“Don’t waste a minute not being happy. If one window closes, run to the next window or break down a door”

Goldie Hawn

 

Yours in Sport

 

“Mush”

John Ghent. This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.