It's all about The Dirt:

Survive. v. To remain alive or in existence. To remain functional or usable.
Thrive. v. To grow strongly and vigorously. To do well; prosper

I get this, but do I live it? Do I live life to coast, or to make the most?

I face the reality that this is hard for me. I want to make the most of every day, to feel satisfied that I can lay my head on the pillow and knew I gave the daylight hours my best. The day needs:

  ♥  To be productive
  ♥  To nurture and love
  ♥  To stretch, exercise or exert energy
  ♥  To share or write
  ♥  To feel there’s some sort of harmony… even for a minute

If I really think about what this means to me, it does not mean the same to everyone: Rock climbing to taking the dog for a walk, loving/caring for a parent to sending a note to a friend. A hug… a ride… a smile… a connection… a bite of something tasty… a brilliant, spring flower rising to the sun… breathing. Somehow, some way.

Some days just suck. I’ll say it. But do they really? Or am I focusing on the bad and the ugly? Do I need to dig deeper to find the moments that matter? For me, they can be a pearl in the ocean of bitterness. A gem buried in the coal. A diamond in the rough.

As I come off a huge high from a mountain bike race, everything feels good. Vibrations are high, endorphins raging, success of accomplishment, the joy of exerting myself and thriving. I didn’t race to survive it, I raced to thrive. I wanted to get the most out of it. I went anaerobic, took a wrong turn, and ran over a rock cairn. I could have been scared, leery or less confident… but I chose to be strong, lean and on my game. I whipped through the winding singletrack with flow and ease. I caught up to riders ahead, tailed them and passed. I gave it my best and pushed as hard as I could to understand the meaning and feeling of success. That doesn’t mean beating all my competitors, it just means to surpass what I thought I was capable of.

Winning has a whole new look for me these days… and so does thriving.

I love my beginner’s spirit. As Lance put on his time trial bike for the ‘09 Tour, this is “the bomb” of racing. The new excitement and experience must take over the jitters and cage-rattling. Each race is a bike notch in my belt to build on.

Quoted from Working out, Working Within, “According to the ancient Chinese notion of the ‘ripple effect,’ when you drop a pebble in the water, everything that comes within the water’s wake is directly affected by it.” When you’re on… you’re on. When you’re not, you still have a choice to survive through it, or thrive.

I will try to walk away thriving from any experience, no matter what the outcome is… I’m bound and determined. It’s my stubborn Irish blood, or it’s just me knowing that I don’t want to settle for second best.

Do you choose to coast, or make the most? Where are you in your game?

(Hand photo)

This is one of my favorite moments in “A Peaceful Warrior”: A true story of Dan Millman.

As I read through old writings and snapshots of time, I’m transposed back to the moment. But when I think of how they relate to the future, they apply as well. There is so much we say and do that give us hints to the future, but the most important thing is to be “here in the now”; to work on the present.

Here I share some negative-to-positive thoughts:

panic to… calm

get out to… venture into

stuck to… free

fear to… brave

break out to… be you

bad to… excellent

stick to… allow

illusion to… clear vision

shattered to… preserved

crumble to… rebuild

corner to… exposed

holding to… embrace new

worry to… welcome

shuffling to… meaningful, giant step

Rewrite your words and you rewrite your life, future and interior potential of now. You got it, use it. Focus. Use your inner drive to fill an empty cavern waiting to explode.

Just remember, you are on the cusp of something really good. Be present and “take out the trash”.

This post acts as a combo cycling/life lesson. A two-for-one deal. I’m always amazed how one mountain bike ride can reveal so much about life. That’s why I’m soooo addicted to the mental and physical challenge.

Parts of my biking = parts of my life. I learn and apply…even the crashes.

In mountain biking, most bikers ride on a hardtail (front suspension only) or a full suspension (both wheels have the cush). It’s nice to have a full suspension bike to soften the blow and stop from headbobbing and body jiggling. Plus, then you can also fly over baby skulls (loose, rounded rocks that resemble…I won’t say it again), roots and other things without missing a beat. I’ve ridden on both, and two shocks make me go faster. It softens the blow, yet rides over just about anything. But sometimes it buffers too much and I can get sloppy and careless, just like when I make choices in life…

Focus.

When I ride trails, some have switchbacks: The trail heads in one direction up a mountain, then flips to the other direction so you can climb without going straight up. It can be a nice, easy transition, or it can be a super tight turn. I constantly struggled with these at first, never quite figuring out how to pedal, look, and turn at the same time. It’s almost like patting your tummy and rubbing your head simultaneously…it takes practice. I finally figured it out after about 50 times when someone told me to LOOK AHEAD. Look through the turn and the bike follows. When life takes a sudden turn, look ahead…

Vision.

Sometimes climbing just sucks…wind. Breathing hard, learning to settle myself as my heart pounds in my ears, sweat pours down my face, gravity is cruel, and legs burn. Sound fun? If you master it (and I have yet to feel euphoric at that point), then you rock. One thing I did learn on a steep climb is to shift your weight forward onto the seat, and amazing things happen…my bike moves up the hill. The suffering is less. The conquering is more. The euphoria happens at the top, sipping your water bottle and chewing on goji berries. To lean into my world and be floored at what happens…

Movement.

After a couple of crashes, my bike doesn’t sound great afterwards. Rattling, clanking, scrapes, stickers scratched, gears out of whack or whatever. I know nothing about my bike and how it works, for the most part. It looks cool and I know some parts, but change a tire? That’ll take me an hour. I was cruising along one day and the front of the bike was noisy…and noisier, then really noisy. I stopped to take a look at the tire and it was super loose. Like almost falling off. If I didn’t listen, that would have been a nasty fall. Take a hint in life…

When a situation gets louder and louder, listen.

There are some days in a ride when I feel like I’m on the top of my game. Balance, lungs, smiles, legs cranking, less burping, well hydrated. I’m in a zone and feeling like I can ride forever…then I get cocky. When I feel good, there’s no stopping me, except for a fall. I corner faster, I risk more, I fly down descents, and the adrenaline rush is addicting. The next thing I know, I’m on the ground pinned under a tree, body sprawled, bike tangled around me with a stunned look on my face. What happened? Know your limits…

Balance.

Then there are days of self defeat. It’s not my day, my stomach hurts, ankle feels sticky, lungs burn, snotty nose, focus is blurry, balance is sketchy, and I feel like I’m crawling. Every pedal stroke is a sufferfest and a huge effort to crank out. Where’s my head? Is there anything positive from this ride? Should I just stop, go back and call it a day? Sometimes I do listen to my body occasionally and turn around, but then again, do I need to just get over the hump and feel better on the other side? Usually I push through and let my positive thoughts take over. To stop beating myself up because I’m having a different day. I look around at the beauty, the scenery, the peace, the quiet, take each climb as it comes and I’m back…into the place that gets me somewhere. Get through the tough stuff and accomplish more than you ever thought possible…

Perseverance.

This concludes my gnarly, needed lessons. Bike lessons, life lessons. My lessons, your lessons. Digging deeper and finding treasures.