Day-to-Day Satisfaction

Wednesday, Feb. 28, 2024

When things seem too hard, and I’m bogging,
I feel I’m not moving; I’m slogging.
Notice this minute.
Just try to win it;
Hooray for each step that I’m logging

How do you create day-to-day satisfaction?

Talking about how I felt midst
Bike ride when things meld together—
Trail surface, light & temp, bike performance—
All bringing my positive feelings of
“Being in the Flow.”
Personal stamina.
Satisfaction when I get to that day’s destination. 

Someone asked:
“Where can you find those feelings 
When you’re not riding your bike?
You don’t ride all the time.”

I’m reminded … when I’m speaking,
I tell my audience, 
“My bike stories are a Metaphor.”

They are a parallel for
How I can respond in my off-bike life.

Making a commitment, 
Getting help,
Connecting with others,
Finding humor in the hard stuff,
Recommitting  (one-minute-at-a-time).

When I use what I’ve learned and relearn on
Every bike adventure,
My 5 shifts,
My off-bike life can have some “peg-points”
Which I can use.

Is it fool-proof / a given?
Absolutely not!
Just like a bike ride that is
Too hard, too rough, too long,
Or—the worst for me—I get lost;
I despair about what I am doing.

Then I want to stomp away,
Leaving my bike, or my circumstances,
In the MUD!

I have those extremes
Crummy days,
Crummy bike rides.

Then, time to go back to my peg-points—
The Shifts I’ve learned help me
Stay the course;
Keep on keeping on.

I call those peg-points “Shifts”
Because that’s what I can do
On a bike or in any part of my life—
Shift, to maintain my cadence
Or manage the terrain.

Then there is hope 
Mixed with determination.

I’m soaking in
“Yes, I think I can.”

Hugs,
Lin