a year of moments

a year that begins with an outdoor ride in crisp, clean air under steadily blue skies has got to be a good one, right?

I think it does.

there are many reasons why I bike, but the one I contemplated most today is this: it's difficult to stress about anything going on (or not going on) in your life while you're riding a bike.
I see two main reasons for this:
first, I'm usually working too hard to have enough oxygen (thus brainpower) to think too greatly about anything besides what I'm doing, and
second, during the moments when I'm not working too hard I am too full of joy and gratitude for the experience to worry about any other little thing in my life.

steven lane taylor is the author of Row, Row, Row Your Boat, and has a blog titled Living Life in the Divine Flow. he travels, speaking and conducting workshops on incorporating a healthy spirituality into daily life. in his new year's message this year he emphasizes the concept of living in the present moment: setting goals and then letting them go and living life in each moment it presents.
I was thinking about this today as I rode, realizing that biking is an excellent tool for keeping me in the moment. it's difficult to be anywhere else when you're working hard, watching for hazards, staying balanced and in good form, and enjoying the heck out of your experience out in this great, big, wonderful world.

so here's to a year of moments. a year filled with awareness. a year of joy, exuberance, flowing. a year of surrendering to what is, and accepting it as perfect. (yes, even every moment of my biking performance.)
here's to being grateful that we are given the moments we have, and for loving the hell out of all of them, whether we are tempted to label them good or bad or awful. they are what we have; they are all that we have.

here's to a year of moments: millions of them, all held together with a common theme of gratitude and my very favorite, knuckle worthy, never-to-be-forgotten concept,
faith.

namaste, always

inspiration, faith, and patience

I'm quite sure that part of my intention in creating this blog had to do with inspiration: my sharing of what inspires me, hopefully to spread a bit of encouragement and inspiration to others.
and most days I find inspiration somewhere, somehow.
today, however . . .
my ride was hard with miles of a cold wind in my face, and I did not feel like I was performing well. at all. I didn't time myself because I didn't want to be discouraged. I dragged myself, kicking and screaming, to the top of the hill chanting my little mantra-of-the-day: I am happy, I am warm, I am strong. I am happy, I am warm, I am strong.
sometimes the power of positive thinking isn't quite enough to make things so.

thus I have little internal inspiration to share (okay, it was beautiful, with gobs of water clamoring to get down the creekbed and lots of snow clinging to shaded trees and hillsides and peaks) and am pulling from someone else's today.

I'm pulling this from steven lane taylor, who got it from a friend of his. it came to me via email this morning, and it's a short movie about, well, faith, and patience. I was able to practice the art of patience while watching it, and it just seems like the right message to pass along today.
I hope you find time to watch it, and then let the lesson just seep into your being over the next little while.
blessings to you all ~ here's the link: www.5millionforchange.com/MovieBamboo.aspx