Well,
I just completed another lap around the sun. I celebrated my 54th birthday on
June 4th. I love June 4th. It's a great day. I have always loved the sound of
that date - June 4th. I bet everyone feels the same way about their
birthday date.
Anyway,
I also just love June. The days are the longest, it’s starting to warm up, the
leaves have just popped open, the grass is green - Summer vacations are just
around the corner. We can ride bikes almost
every day outside. June is just a great
month in Upstate NY.
I
find your birthday is a great time to reflect and spend some time thinking. I
do the same thing around January 1st. It's important to celebrate and really think
about the great things we’ve done at this point out lives. We all have great
things to celebrate, but we rarely do.
It's
also great time to look forward and think of the things we want to accomplish and
the dreams still left in us. This can
get stressful to when you think about the knowns and unknowns, but for me it
helps keep me energized.
And
think about where we are right now.
I
spent some time this morning thinking about that and boiled that thinking down
into my morning bike ride the other day.
The past is like my training up into the
point. My body is fairly fit. I eat a strict plant based diet. I workout almost
every day. Things could be better and they could be worse. I am where I am based on what I’ve done up to
that point.
The future is the bike ride itself - the
route and the expectation of completing the ride. The improvement in health, the experience of
the ride, the feeling of success.
The present is like climbing the hill on
Ridge Rd. About 2 miles long and halfway
through the ride. Head down watching my pedals, breathing hard, and dripping sweat. Barely looking 18 inches beyond
my front wheel – seeing the road as it appears in the top part of my view just below my helmet. Trying to have some conversation with Kurt though
mostly in complete oxygen debt. And then
settle in for another 2 mile gentle climb.
I think that’s where I am now in my life….halfway through and working really hard,
enjoying the moment and the day. Hoping
it’s not my last bike ride.
Out
of our group ride last Sunday, one of the guys mentioned that one ride will be
our last bike ride. That concept scares the shit out of me. But he is right. One day will be our last
day. The obituaries are published every day. Think about that. Not one day has
gone by without the obituaries.
I’m
not going to thinking about that - not in June anyway.
Enjoy
the day, and I hope everyone makes the most of their laps around the sun.
Carpe
diem!
