I want to ride my bicycle....

So as many of you have seen on facebook, I am quickly becoming addicted to riding a bicycle.  It is TOTALLY a new found sanctuary for me. It's so peaceful, and quiet, and beautiful!! I like biking with Dean, having a hobby we can share is amazing! I totally understand his desire to ride, I really never thought I would. He said all along that I had to find an exercise that I enjoyed, not just tolerated, and he was right. (Dean, write the date down, I said you were right this once! LOL)  Anyways, I do love riding with my hushpuppy....but I love riding alone ALOT!!!   There are quite a few things I have learned this week from riding my bike.  I could not help but see the similarities that God was screaming at me! So I decided I had to share.....

1.  You want different results you HAVE to be willing to try different things.
Seems simple enough, right?? But we all do it!  My weight loss has been at a plateau for a while, and it was beginning to frustrate me. But I was doing the same old same old every day!! Eating the same things, doing the same exercises at the gym.  I finally realized it was time to challenge myself, to push myself to a new level.
We whine and complete because nothing is changing, but we are not willing to change the things we do every day. I heard LONG ago, that the definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over and expecting different results.  If I eat popcorn and caramel M&Ms everyday (hey...no judgement!!), but get mad because I am not losing any more weight...or if I never change the oil in my car, and it stalls out on me on the interstate....I forget everyday to water my vegetable garden but can't figure out why nothing is growing...or my kids misbehave everyday because I don't take the time and effort to discipline them...or I don't take the time to invest in growing my marriage and I see my husband ooggling over a women at work....if I am not willing to change myself and my actions, I can't be mad at anyone but myself.

2. Make small changes for BIG results

On a bicycle the smallest adjustment to the seat, or what you wear, or where you ride...all completely change the experience. Shifting the angle of the seat the slightest millimeter can make all the difference! Wearing bicycle gloves can SAVE your palms!!! Padded shorts are a GOD SENT!!! LOL

Apply that to life....spend 5 more mins a day in the word, or 5 more mins a day in prayer and see how it changes your spiritual life. Take a Friday night and take your spouse on a date, just the 2 of you, somewhere without kids, and without cell phones and watch your relationship explode! How much effort does it really take to start the snowball rolling? What kind of teeny tiny peeble makes HUGE ripples in the water?

3. Don't look at the top of the hill, look at the 2 feet in foot of you

The first time I tried to ride up a pretty decent sized hill, I kept staring way off in the distance at the top of the hill. I thought I would NEVER get to the top.  And you know what...I never did!! I stopped and walked my bike up the hill. I was so disappointed in myself, so discouraged.  Dean of course was great, told me not to stress about it, that really soon that hill would seem like nothing to me.  Well, a few days later I decided to ride that same hill on a ride myself, I was not going to be defeated by a silly hill. So I tried to get a running start to the hill first. (Make a plan, get prepared, start at the beginning and work toward the top) Then when the hill started, I put my head and down and pushed myself! (That's a word right there!!! Put your head down and FOCUS, look at nothing else. Don't let the devil distract you off your path.)  I watched only the 2 feet in the front of the bike.  Not the 100 feet straight up in front of me!! Take it one little step at a time. Eat the elephant one bite at a time.

4. Take time to soak it all in

I don't want to ride so fast and so hard that I don't see the beauty all around me. I want to see the trees, to smell the honeysuckle, the feel the breeze on my face, to soak in the praise music in my ears, to hear God's little whisper.  I need to slow down and smell the roses!! Seriously!! I have a REAAAAALLLLYYYYY hard time slowing down, stopping my brain, and resting.  I go go go ALL THE TIME!!! I don't know how to be any different.  I'm just not made that way.  Dean is constantly trying to get my to rest. Sometimes, my body makes me rest, even when I don't really want to.  I am trying to retrain myself to slow down and enjoy things. To not be in a constant state of frustration and being overwhelmed, especially when it is typically my own doing!

I hope and pray that as I continue to ride....He will continue to speak!