Tag Archives: lessons

Unexpected Lesson

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I woke up in a grumpy mood this morning. Freckles and Sugar decided to start barking much too early.
Saturday morning, no where to be, no plans…and they start barking.
After Tina and the girls headed out to get mani-pedis I decided to lay down and try to sneak in a quick nap before going for a bike ride.
Just as I started to doze off my phone rang. I looked, it was a client. I rolled back over. Within minutes my phone rang again…same client. I decided to answer, though I was not happy about it.
When I answered it wasn’t my client, it was her brother. He told me his sister died.
I sat there stunned. I kept thinking about my interactions with this young lady. I thought about her family. I thought about the hole she would leave.
Then I realized how ridiculous I had been earlier. I was grumpy…for no real reason. The fact is I woke up…earlier than I wanted…but I woke up. I had the entire day ahead of me…I could go ride my bike, hug my wife and laugh with the girls. I still had things to look forward to and friends to love…I still have my life.

There are so many sad side stories to this death. So many hearts broken by this loss. Yet everyone’s life will move on. Everyone, even her closest family will heal. What I hope for is that each person effected and maybe even those of you that read this post, will take a minute to remember how fortunate we are. Remember to appreciate the time we are given to walk on this earth. And most importantly remember to appreciate those people we get to share this planet with.

Cycling Lesson…

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I learned a valuable cycling lesson this morning.

Tina and I were visiting family in West Texas. I decided this morning to take a bike ride. In West Texas many of the roads seem endless. They are straight and may go 50 miles without a turn or even a town. IMG_3621
I told Tina which State Highway I planned to ride and in which direction. I also explained that I would ride out for an hour…turn around and ride back….obviously I would be gone for 2 hours.

As I headed out of town I felt great. My pedaling was smooth and my pace was consistently faster than usual. I averaged 17.3 to 20.1 MPH for the first 20 miles. I convinced myself the reason for the fast ride was the flat road and smooth pavement.
My 1 hour “out” was up at the 20 mile mark, so I crossed the road and headed back toward town.

As soon as I turned around I realized it was the tailwind that carried me twenty miles…and it would be the headwind I had to fight all the way back to town.

What took me an hour to ride with tailwind….took me one hour and 40 minutes to ride against the headwind.

A lot of self talk was required to keep me pushing against the headwind.
Same beautiful scenery, as the ride out…just look across the fields.
Be grateful you get to ride.
relax
quit being a wimp!
Just keep pedaling

I did finally make it back and I did acknowledge how fortunate I was to spend time riding and I did enjoy the fields and fields of unending farm land.IMG_3635

However, the next time I ride my bike in West Texas, I will check the direction of the wind (because there is always wind in West Texas) before determining which route to take.