I AM NOT ALONE

Thanksgiving was a blast. I was off work and for that I was extremely thankful. I spent the day doing everything I wanted to do - nothing. I also did most of what I didn't want to do - anything. Actually, I had to do a little bit of light cleaning. However, it felt good to go at my own pace.

With nothing much to do, I figured I would make my rounds of blogs and news sites. I realize during my blog surfing, that sometimes it is better to just shut up and make people think you have nothing to say, than to open your mouth only to prove that you have nothing to say.

As I am surfing some of these blogs, I find them to be nothing more than links to other sites. Seriously now, I thought blogging (and the whole purpose of writing) was to share YOUR thoughts. A link to a story is fine, but when the link is your story, then maybe you should really just remain quiet. It reminds me of people who speak because they can, and not because they have something to say. Where are your thoughts?

I see one of favorite blogs has not been updated in a long time. I have to wonder if the blogger chooses to speak only when there is something to say, versus speaking because they possess the ability to speak. Knowing the blogger, I would say the former is most likely the reason for the lack of updates. And that is quite fine by me.

To those who update their blogs with refreshing contents, keep up the good work - you gave me something to do.

WOW

WOW! That's all I can say. I am actually paying attention to this blog. Being busy with work does not leave me with enough time in the day to do all the things I want to do. My work day (excluding drive time) generally starts at 8:30 a.m. and ends somewhere between 11:30 - 11:45 p.m. most days. On the occasions when I have an evening off, updating a blog is not among my top priorities. However, I decided to take the time to write something. Of greater significance is not what I write, but that I am taking the time to write.

I use to say "I don't have the time", but then I realize I was cheating myself out of things I love and enjoy (and no, I am not talking about blogging nor writing). For example, it was the excuse I used for not going cycling. I used to ride a minimum of 75 miles per week, but for the past 4 years I rode less than 7 miles per week on the rare occasions when I did ride. I think I get a little less than 7 miles per week on my riding lawn mower - I'll have to check.

During this time I could hear my bikes moaning as they fell in a cobwebbed state of non-use. So I threw the "no time excuse" out the door, repaired my bikes (do-it-myself + professional) and started riding again. My road bike is now a part of my truck. At first I was a little annoyed having to lift and pull it from the cabin compartment as I do not yet have a bike hitch. Then I remembered, if I want to do this (ride) then I'll have to do this (lift and pull). Now the lifting and pulling is a part of the experience, and WOW is all I can say to this experience.

Today I rode a mixed trail - wooded, hills, flats, farms and city. I generally enjoy city riding until I start inhaling the fumes of passing vehicles or someone decides to exit a parked vehicle and open their door suddenly just as I am about to pass by. Today in the city, about 11 miles into my journey, I stopped at a roadside market and ate the juiciest, crispiest apple I ate in a long time. It had the right balance of tart and sweet - just how I like it. Combined with an oatmeal cookie it was the perfect fuel. The flats took me through Grant's Farm, home to Budweiser's Clydesdale. To ride along the white fences and watch the Clydesdale (including a foal) galivant reminded me of the freedom to be enjoyed outside. During the "wooded ride" I saw a few deers including a majestic buck (probably a 10pt buck), dart across the trail ahead of me. The trail crossed rivers, streams and brooks and on occasions ran alongside them. Squirrels played "dodge the bikers", caterpillars tried to scurry across the trail and birds were busy darting in and out of the bushes along the side of the trail.

It was such a beautiful experience to be back in the saddle and enjoying the sights and sounds of the outdoors. Had it not been for getting saddle sore and feeling a thousand little fire in each quad, I would not have realized that I covered 26.5 miles riding. Next stop - 30 miles. No more I don't have the time. The experience is too rich for me to not enjoy it.

AND...it is mostly free...

A RIVER RUNS THRU IT

2008 was a rough year for me...not only did i have to live thru an IRS audit that started in 2007, but i also lost my primary source of income (aka my job)...for 5 months i lived on my savings and a part-time job...

fortunately, i obtained full time employment...a few weeks after starting this position, my part-time job (which at one point was my full time job) offered me the opportunity to come back full time...for someone who didn't have a full time position for 5 months, this was a great problem to have...in the end, i accepted the offer from my part-time employer, but was able to remain part-time with "new employer" (the result of making a strong impression and demonstrating that i am more action than talk)...

what's ahead for 2009 and beyond?...perseverance...

Lucretius once said: "the drops of rain make a hole in the stone not by violence, but by oft falling"...i look at the pic i took of this stream and am so inspired...i watch the water deal with the obstacles (if you see the rocks as obstacles versus guiding signs) by exercising its fluidity, and moving around the rocks...at some points in the pic, it seems as if the water is hugging the rocks, embracing its life's 'problems'...

i watch it flow smoothly towards the edge of the rocks, and then tumble over the edge...the fall seems to create different little pieces and fragments the stream as it tumbles...but those pieces pool at the end of the fall and continue to flow as a unit...that's perseverance...

i don't know when i will stumble and fall...but i know that picking up the pieces and "flowing on" is what i will do...and will embrace the challenges thrown at me, and like the river, i shall continue flowing to the ocean...