Tingling and Alive

I woke up this morning and I knew that I was going for a bike ride.  It was scheduled.  It was on the books.  I was doing it.   I had made plans with Todd for the morning, all centered upon my bike ride.  I was going to ride early and on the way home, I would stop at the local ‘gathering hole’ where Todd would meet me and where we would breakfast together.  After breakfast, he would continue on to the studio (work) and I would bike the remaining 3 miles home…where I would have a bit of time to relax and get ready for my work day.  All planned….and I woke up ready to roll with that plan.  And then I stood up to go to the bathroom and my head felt like it was going to totally explode.  Woo hooo, what a fun thing to discover upon awakening.   I stumbled to the bathroom.  I listened for the sound of rain…..I wanted to hear the sound of rain so that I had a valid excuse to not go out riding.   I heard nothing…but made my way back to bed, hoping that a bit of rest would ease up the pressure in my head.  Seriously?  

 

I laid there thinking.  I knew that if I didn’t ride that I would castigate myself all day. I knew I had to push through and ride.  I changed the plans.  We went for an early breakfast where I downed some ibuprofen and some diet Pepsi (double whammy….meds and the breakfast drink of the Gods).  When I got back to the house, I prepped as much as I could for my day (packed my lunch) and then I headed out.  Yes, my headache had eased off to near nothing.   I checked my tires and headed out.   Ahhh the feeling of the wind on my face……the birds chirping…..the overcast skies….the sprinkles of rain.   What a feeling of being ALIVE!

 

Excuses.  We are so full of them. Headache, rain, sore foot, busy schedule, time of the month, too tired, to achy…..the list goes on and on and on.   But when we push through the excuses and carry through with our plans to exercise and better ourselves, the world opens up and it’s an amazing place!    I would have missed the euphoric feeling of a great workout.  I would have missed the gorgeous scenery.  I would have missed seeing the young girl selling cucumbers, trying to earn enough  money to buy something for herself. (yes, I swung around and ended up buying a bushel of cucumbers…..I’ll be making pickles…cinnamon….icicle…..dill…..and we didn’t plant cucumbers for some odd reason……ok ok ok, the girls brother works with me…so he delivered the produce to me at work…and since I had no money, I’m sending the money home with him).  I would have missed SO much!

 

Even more than that feeling of actually living, I would have denied myself the opportunity to take a step toward the ‘me’ that I want to be.  Yes, I know where I want to be and I know that it takes work.  If I would have skipped my ride and listened to those gazillion excuses I would have missed an opportunity to move closer to my goals.   Every day is an opportunity to move closer to my goals and dreams.  I don’t want to waste ANY days!