? It's all good | Main | A change of heart ?
July 1, 2004
A new bike
A very wise saying is, “A person’s life does not consist of possessions.” Wanting something so bad that we have to have it, that we think about it all the time, is robbing us of being able to live fully right now in this moment. We can use words like, ‘covet,’ ‘lust,’ and ‘crave,’ to describe this feeling.
No matter how many material things we accumulate, it doesn’t change our basic bodily function of living. Possessions also do not alleviate the wounds of our hearts. Too often we think that getting things will make us happy. But happiness is something that comes from the inside out
Last week I got a new bike that is lighter and faster. But it did not help me ride with my friend Dan, a.k.a. Lance Armstrong, today. The new bike did not alleviate the need for better training and more of it. Dan led me on a 15 mile ride at a brisk pace and up one of the toughest hills I have seen. The bottom line is that the bike doesn’t make the athlete. The athlete uses the bike to increase performance, but the athlete still has to build up endurance and strength and speed.
Too often in our society we are looking for the immediate fix.. It’s a demand for instant gratification. We want everything now, and want the easy solution. We want pills that make us skinny without exercise or a better diet. We want diets that make us lose 50 pounds instantly and we want a body that makes heads turn without putting in an effort. Our society seems to be promoting, “whatever it is you want, you can buy it now and tomorrow your problems will be gone.”
When I got on my bike for the first time this year, I had no idea what kind of a commitment daily bike riding would be. It’s difficult sometimes, downright hard! But it’s not a new bike that drives me on. It’s knowing that I’m improving my physical condition and decreasing the chances that I’ll die prematurely of my own neglect and abuse.
A person’s life does not consist of possessions. It is much greater. Possessions can be stolen, they rust, they wear out, they break, we get tired of them, and they falsely give us a sense that we are somehow immune from pain and suffering. Yet when we base our happiness on what we can get, we have to keep getting to feed ourselves or risk being unhappy again. And how much is enough. It’s illusive.
I like my new bike but I like my friend Dan even more for taking the time to ride with me and push me a little. Too often we are hung up on getting something quickly. But like cycling, fitness doesn’t come from the machine, it comes from our commitment and continuous exercise and diet. It’s in the process. Life is in the process not the possessions.
Posted by carl1236 at July 1, 2004 10:13 PM | Balance