Adam Gilchrist - True Colours

W hen I chose the title of this book, a friend asked me why. Did I feel that I hadnt shown my true colours up to now?

His suggestion got me thinking. Had I shown my true colours? I didnt know. What are someones true colours?

I feel as if the world I almost wrote general public, but over time Ive felt that term is a tad derogatory, as I am part of the general public myself knows a great deal more about me than I could ever have thought. People I have never met seem to have an image of what type of person I am. I do the same thing. I form perceptions about all the famous people out there. Im as big a stargazer as the next person. We form opinions on the morals and behaviour of stars; we dont know them, but we try to relate to and understand them. We want to figure them out and know what really makes them tick. As I say, I am the same.

So again I ask myself, how can you tell someones true colours?

There are as many different opinions as there are people, and they come from chance impressions: how we talk to and treat others, whether were pleasant or not, or perhaps weve made or broken someones day, and that memory never leaves them.

The stranger I share a beer with in a bar or at a function may have a completely different opinion of my true colours from, say, my wife. My teammates understanding of me will vary, a little or a lot, from that of my brothers and sister. But thats what I love: the pursuit of understanding others and, more to the point, understanding yourself.

Someone once told me we make many, many decisions in life and if we can make more good ones than bad ones then thats as good as we can hope for. I love that idea. We sometimes get so caught up in things that they can destroy us, and often its these decisions and their consequences that form peoples opinions of us: our true colours.

I dont know how my good decisions weigh up against the bad; like anyone, Ive made both. I loved the cricket career I had and I love the life I am living. Im sure the good decisions Ive made will keep me happy for the rest of my life and I hope the bad ones can fade away and not return.

But I believe our true colours present themselves over time through the highs and lows, through laughter and tears, not to strangers and unknowns, but to yourself and those closest to you, allowing you to gradually understand what you are made of. And surely, as there are so many other opinions out there, yours and those of your loved ones are the opinions that matter.

I had a cricket career I could only have dreamed of, and an extraordinary life that came with it: my beautiful wife and kids, my friends, my family, my opponents, my supporters and non-supporters, wins and losses, mistakes and correct choices. They have shown me my true colours. For the whole adventure, good and bad, I will be forever grateful.

Life is an array of colours, the vibrant red of love through to the blackness of pain, and every shade between. So perhaps I now have an answer to my friends query. Perhaps what you are about to read are the colours of my experiences to date. Thats why I went with this title.