We all tend to be a kid at heart, and for some of us, we will never grow up. Yeah, sure, I’m speaking of myself here. But, with a recent mountain bike ride, I learned a few things.
I feel like I need to give you some of the back story.
This ride was a few weeks in the making. The first week, I loaded up the bike and made my way to a local trail. It’s pretty close to the house and it’s a beginner type trail. So it was gonna be the one I wanted to start with. What happened? I got there and the gate to the trail was closed. It rained pretty good a few days earlier, so I accepted defeat and stayed on the paved trail. Still, it was a good ride.
Fast forward a week, and I thought to myself that this was definitely gonna be the day I can finally hit some trails. What happened this time? Rain. Again. For two days it rained a few inches, but I thought I was still gonna be able to get it done as it was warm and sunny for the two days leading up to the day. Yeah right! The bike gods were not in favor of me hitting the trails.
I was beginning to think they didn’t want me on a trail ever and that they only wanted me to stick to the paved ones. But… I was pretty determined to prove them wrong.
That pretty much catches us up.
Now, leading up to this ride, I wanted to keep myself accountable so I wouldn’t chicken out or something. And, I checked the weather multiple times a day all week hoping I would be given the all clear. I also kept my eyes on a local twitter account that posts the status of each trail in the area. They had given the all clear. The weather gave an all clear. So, what could go wrong?
Nothing! This time… nothing.
I loaded up the bike and my gear and hit the road heading straight for the trails. On the way there, I got a call from a friend that said he was there waiting and couldn’t wait to hit the trails.
Everything was finally lined up!
We unloaded our bikes and geared up and quickly made our way to the trailhead.
I remember thinking to myself that this was finally happening. And, now that it was, my mind was free to think without distraction.
Except for the quickly approaching turns and rocks and trees.
As I was thinking, I realized that this was a learning moment. Here’s what I learned:
Have confidence!
I’ll admit, I’m not the most confident person I know. But one thing I learned while out on this ride is that I can. I can do things, but it comes with a bit of a caveat, and admittedly another lesson learned.
Just do!
You can be one of two people. The person sitting at home bing watching Netflix, or you can be that person that goes out and does stuff. Whatever it is, just go do it. It doesn’t always have to be something on a bucket list. It can be something as simple as bird watching. Whatever, without excuse, just go do it.
The last thing I learned is probably the most important thing. And that is: We are in our own race.
My friend that I was riding with was worried he wouldn’t be able to keep up with me. Or that he would struggle with certain obstacles he might come across. I kept telling him the entire time that it was his ride, not to worry about me. It was his ride and that he didn’t have to keep up with me.
Too often I see people trying to “keep up with the Jones'”. That’s not how we should be at all. Each day that passes is an opportunity to be the best version of us that we can be. You can’t accomplish that at all if you’re trying to keep up with the person next to you.
In closing, remember: Have confidence in yourself in whatever you do, and whenever you do go and do, it’s your race and your race only.