Keep Calm and Ride On

As requested - some photos from Little Red Riding Hood today. I couldn't have asked for a more beautiful day to ride through the countryside with friends. Ride on.

This morning after my friend Sarah helped me apply sunscreen to my back so it wouldn't get burnt like last year, I climbed on my bike and watched as my friends did the same. We rode our bikes and drafted and that's when it hit me. Maybe I've been too hard on myself. Maybe I've been too hard on my boys. And maybe, just maybe, it doesn't have to be so hard.   

What If

Life is more about applying sunscreen than applying pressure to succeed?

Less about extra stuff, test results and grades and more about bedtime stories, picnics in the yard and seeing the world while riding down from the top of a hill?

Less about perfection, and more about accepting flaws?

{Some of the food and treats from today's "Off to Bollywood" themed Little Red}

Less about the miles ridden, and more about how many kind words come from my lips?

More listening, less questioning?

More observing, less dictating?

"Follow your bliss and the universe will open doors for you where there were only walls." - J. Campbell

More rest, less rush?

What if life is less about taking big trips and more about taking every opportunity to get to know people?

{By letting it go, it all gets done. The world is won by those who let it go. But when you try and try, the world is beyond winning. - Lao Tzu}

Less about where you are going on your ride, and more about who you are riding with?

More about courageously battling cancer and less about how fast you ride?

{Sharon is a ten year cancer survivor}

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Less about being first to cross the finish line and more about being the one to stop and help injured riders?

 

Less about living up to other people's expectations and more about baring the colors of your soul?

Less about who's right and more about who's kind?

So was Little Red a life changing experience? Maybe. Maybe not, I don't know. But something tells me if I keep calm and ride on I could breathe easier. And my boys could breathe easier. More love, trust and faith and less opinions, beliefs and standards.

Then maybe one day I will look back, my grown boys and I, and we'll celebrate the way we kept calm and rode on through life - not by following what someone told us, but by letting our hearts be our guide. 

Until that day comes, I'll provide the sunscreen and unconditional love. 

And go easy on the other stuff. 

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Although I spent the night at my sister's house in Preston, I didn't sleep very much after Sheri asking me to pray for her friend Ashley, who was in the path of the tornado in Oklahoma. The following is in honor of the men, women, and children affected by the tornadoes experiencing unfathomable pain and loss...

What if

Life is more about encouraging a stranger at mile 69 and less about beating your personal record?

More about hearing the cheers of family from the sidelines and less about saddle sores and self doubt?

More about feeling alive beneath a cloudless blue sky and less about a list of lifetime achievements?

More about the ability of the human soul and less about things that can break it?

{What really matters in this one precious life has become so clear. I feel like if I LIVE by heart - I can let everyone do the same}