Welcoming pain in our lives…

Today i went biking with my friends.

I am very lucky. I have friends i ski with. Friends i bike with. Friends i train with.  And don’t worry, i also have friends i am just friends with.

So today i hung out with the bike bunch of friends. Fortunately for me, they are all better than me, stronger and faster. I have no excuse, they ride more than me and they earned their strength, they paid for it in pain, sweat and discipline.

Why do i say fortunately? Because i love  to be able to ride with stronger guys. When i try to follow them, they push me to my limits. I suffer while they talk like it was a walk in the park.  I thank them often because they wait for me. Today we were out for 2 hours. At about 90 minutes, my body decided it was enough. I had severe spasms in both legs. I could not pedal, i could not walk, i could just sit down and yell : Ouuuch!   This is the idea : ride until you can’t.

My good friend graciously waited for me and he offered a gel. What a gentleman and true friend this guy is. I stretched my burned out limbs  and i got back on my bike and i smiled, i laughed.  A little further, the other boys where waiting for me and i said: Guys, you are killing me! Thank you so much!  And i thought about how lucky i was to be able to bike with them because today, even though i was hurting, i knew i was getting better, stronger and faster simply because i embraced the pain and i kept going. 

I don’t wish or dream to be better than my friends, i just appreciate the fact that through all struggles and the pain, i have the opportunity to improve.

Bike is a nice metaphor of life.

What i learned in sports, i apply in life.

I don’t mind falling down. I don’t mind  hurting.

I don’t mind struggling to follow others.

Because the opportunity to improve is all that matters to me.

Thank you.

Original post Facebook, May 2017