Recent lessons

While the blogging has met with minor hiatus due to the holiday season, I assure you that we are still working hard towards our goals and learning many things.

Here are a few of my holiday inspired insights as they may or may not relate to bicycling, fundraising, adventuring, loving and living.

1. Things happen for a reason, eh? I'm not a religious person and in matters of fate and destiny I am more like Season 2 Jack than John Locke, but I can say that after 25 years of living I am convinced that things happen for a reason. Of course, I think this because in an order to create my own meaning and purpose I search for and define those reasons after the fact of the actions. One of the more recent joys of my life has been giving into patience and allowing the impact and meaning of moments, actions, human connections, and total coincidences, reveal themselves over time and re-reval themselves again and again as I meet with new phases of life.

2. Fear is evil. Compassion and love, I think, have one natural enemy and that is fear. The only times I have ever hesitated when helping others is when I have been full of fear. Yeah, so that's over with. I have learned, in the face of some of my worst fears, I'm still okay, intact, solid, strong and capable. So bring it on life. Show me what you got.

3. Cycling shorts are pretty much the greatest (nay: sexiest) things on the planet next to cycling shoes. I've been reading the blogs of the other AIDS/Life Cycle participants and have noticed that this is a post all of them make at some point. Much like when I first realized I could put oreos on ice cream; it's a moment of pure bliss when we realize something we love to gets even better. Trust me. This butt pad business . . . genius. 5 minutes of internet searching has yet to yield the original inventor of such an idea . . . so I'll just throw a general thank you to those responsible for the comfort of my posterior.

4. Most important . . . . I love this life not for what I do, where I go or the pretty things I get to see (currently a chilly Colorado sunrise delicately and poignantly back lighting a row of bare trees with a random assortment of waking birds). I love this life for the people in it with me. I am surrounded by the most amazing and inspiring family and friends, most of whom have no idea how great they are. THANK YOU to everyone for all your love and support over the years. THANK YOU to everyone who is helping me out on this cycling, fundraising journey.

AND A HUGE THANK YOU and shout out to all the people who have participated and donated that I don't even know. I hope that some day I get to meet you face to face, hug you, buy you coffee and sit and find out who you are, what inspires you to be so generous, and how I might be able to one day repay the generosity you have all shown to me!

Time for me to head to early morning spinning class . . . getting in all the high altitude training I can.

Happy New Year Everyone! Here's to a year full of living, learning and loving.