“The only way you will get where you want to go is if you keep on moving”
This weekend brought my attention back to the idea of moving forward, one step at a time regardless of how slow the movement seems. If you continue to make decisions and move you will get where you want to go, it’s when you stop that the end seems forever far. In December I signed up for a bicycle event called the “Death Ride’, a Tour of the Tahoe Alps covering 129 miles and 15,000 feet of climbing. Why? Well, back then it sounded like a good challenge and a great idea… doesn’t everyone want to climb up 3500 feet to hit an altitude of 8500?! Ya, I know it was a crazy idea. Nonetheless it was on my calendar. I trained as much as I could for the event, which wasn’t much given everything else going on and decided I was going to complete the entire ride, all 5 passes! It was an arduous goal but I had set my mind.
I spent my whole day Saturday (literally) on a bicycle in an attempt to complete my goal. There was nothing easy or fun about this ride (okay maybe the high speed descents were kinda fun) but the climbing uphill in heat was brutal. I looked down at my cadence and saw it drop to the low 30’s, I was barely pedaling and there were no more grannie gears left. At about 12pm I was 2 passes down with 3 more to go. Legs burning, mind wandering, heart racing I stopped to take a break. I gathered myself and looked to the summit (way up there), I needed to get there and there was only one way to do it, to keep moving. I got on the bike and pedaled, one stroke at a time, and moved slow (very, very slow) but I moved and eventually I made it to the top.
The ride made me think of how often in our lives we find ourselves climbing uphill, in the thick of things, tired and exhausted and STOP and get STUCK. Whether it be stuck with weight loss, performance goals, diet, exercise, relationships, career, etc. Somewhere along the path we decide it’s too hard to move so we stop.
But STOPPING doesn’t have to be permanent, rather than stopping and getting off the path, get back on and move, even if it means to move slow, one stroke at a time, one bite at a time, one step at a time. At some points along the path the move might be a small step and at other points a big leap but as long as you keep moving things will change and you will get where you set out to go.
What is one situation you are stopped in? Focus on creating some movement in that space.
Happy Monday and Be Well!
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About the author
Ritu Riyat MPH|Holistic Health and Nutrition Counselor| Yoga Therapist is a San Francisco based Health Counselor promoting universal wellness via Skype consultations, and seminars. Delivering simple techniques to add balance through food, movement, and meditation. She is an avid cyclist, crossfitter and yogini. Her motto “food is a drug, eat responsibly”… Nutritionize now!
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