Ben Daniher

I escaped down the back stairs feeling pretty good about myself.

I looked back at Bec with a grin that said, see, easy.

And her face turned from excitement to horror.

As a shadow grew over us, I turned around to see Dad standing there.

I'm sure the old D's boys know what face he had on.

Apparently, Dad had identified an opportunity as well, the opportunity to teach me a lesson.

But I wasn't going down without a fight.

Fresh off winning the Grade 3 50-metre sprint, I thought I had him covered.

The plan was simple.

make it to the hill's hoist, and somehow Dad would throw in the towel.

Needless to say, I didn't make it to the hill's hoist.

And the lessons, actions, have consequences, but more importantly, lessons are opportunities.

As kids, we thought Dad was teaching us resilience.

As adults, I realised he was teaching us perspective.

If you're committed to something, you see it through.

Life got tough, have a crack anyway.

If things don't go to plan, learn from it.

Dad wasn't big on excuses, he was big on effort, he was big on action, he was big on family.

One of the last pieces of advice Dad gave me was, remember when striving to achieve goals, sometimes you can forget to enjoy the here and now.

Every day has something special to offer you.