Chris Merton, our most recent new member into the Ascot Rotary Club, gave us some insights into his past and thoughts for the future at our recent Zoom meeting.
Chris was born in the UK, in Essex where he lived until his parents moved to Norfolk. He enjoyed the freedom of being able to roam free during daylight hours, not just on their one acre block; but further afield as well. After he had finished his college studies, he decided to try backpacking on the east coast of Australia. It was there he met his ex wife. They returned to the UK for a time but ended up coming back to Australia. His parents are both in their 70's and continue to live in the UK.
Despite separating from his wife a few years ago; and dealing with some financial issues surrounding that, which resulted in him having to rethink his mindset; he has a very positive outlook on life and feels that the future will be even better. He has a new partner now who is a teacher. He is still in contact with friends he made when he was 8/9 years old; and regularly says to his own children that they 'don't know how lucky they are'.
His mantra is that you can only deal with the stuff that you have control over; there is no point in getting upset by the stuff outside of that. His connection to Rotary came about through his involvement with the Bricktober event that we run every year. He has been our PR person for several years now and has helped build the momentum for the event. He is really enjoying his involvement with Bricktober and looks forward to being involved in future years.
Chris is currently working as an accounts manager for Aspermont, a publishing company focusing on preparing and publishing industry specific magazines.
He believes that we all need to be kind, enjoy life, keep smiling and treat others as you want to be treated - and that is how he approaches life.
Thanks Chris. It is always great to know a bit more about each of our members.