me and scarlett o'hara

my legs are tired this week.
and today is my day off the bike.
so I got to sleep in (yummy), and go to yoga (so good for me), and recover (I hope).

but what happens to me on days like this is that I start thinking about the weekend's rides, and a thought ribbon starts going through my mind:
it'll probably be a big ride on saturday with lots of climbing and oh my gosh, my legs are tired, I'm not going to be able to do it.

snap!
what the heck am I doing?
it's thursday, I don't have to ride anywhere today, in fact, I am resting my legs today.
susan, let yourself enjoy today.
stay right here, don't even go to tomorrow, let alone saturday.
snap!
knock it off!

the other night my almost-16-year-old daughter was stressing about her upcoming AP test, a spanish test, another project that's almost due, volleyball practice, her peer court commitment, on and on . . . I told her maybe she could think as scarlett o'hara does at the end of gone with the wind: tomorrow is another day.
I'll think about that, I'll create a plan, I'll tackle all of those issues tomorrow.
tomorrow.

today I'm going to just be where I am---right here, no thoughts of being anywhere else---then I'm going to go to sleep, and then tomorrow I'll wake up to a new day.
by saturday I'll be ready to climb hills again.

me and scarlett.

be right here

I have a business partner, connie, and we have a company that's been alive for 8 years now. we have a gift line that is spiritual and heartfelt, and we ship wholesale to little stores all around the country.
last year we came up with a new concept that we've worked to build a line around, and it's taken us on an interesting journey.

the line is called Be Right Here, and it all began with a little thought I had one day when I was driving. (so did the original line, leading me to think I should get in my car and drive more often . . . )
I was following a car that had one of those white oval bumper stickers with black initials on it that represent some place the owner likes to be. it could have been NB (newport beach) or SV (sun valley) or just about anything. I was looking at that sticker, and thought, gee, wouldn't it be nice if we could all be pleased to be right here, instead of dreaming of being somewhere else.
click!
RH.
I thought, this is what we all need, a bumper sticker that stands for Right Here, to remind us that we do our best work when we are fully present wherever we are.
well, connie and I tossed this concept around for a while, and eventually came up with the logo you see above.
yes, we have a white oval bumper sticker that has BRH on it, and a handful of other items whose purpose is to remind us to be present, aware, and alive each moment we live.

and this is being presented to you today because yesterday as I was riding I found myself wishing to be in a different place. wishing for a simpler phase of life, a more stable existence, just wanting things to be different. and then I looked around at the reservoir, the mountains, the blue sky, the sunshine . . . and realized that I'd completely forgotten my very own logo.
I pulled myself back together as that lightening bolt fuzzed around me, gathering in my scattered thoughts and desires, winching back in the parts of me that wanted to disengage.

be right here.
right now.

because reality is that once we embrace what is, it shrinks down to a manageable size and at some future point, resolves itself and fades into the past or a more comfortable present.

and all it took was a lightening bolt during a bike ride to remind me to live what I preach.