When I give myself a physical challenge, the same old self-involved, mental struggle rears its head. This mental struggle can only be coughed up as my ego taking a heavy pounding. But as Lance Armstrong once said: “Pain is temporary, quitting lasts forever”. So this past weekend while riding my first century, I dug deep and finished.
Still, while I was complaining for the hundredth time on Sunday that my shoulder/back/ass/knee/stomach hurt, in another part of the world people were grieving. Over the past weekend while I was feeling sorry for myself, Norway was mourning an unimaginable loss. At the time I was riding, I hadn’t heard the news of the Norway massacre. If I had, maybe I would have gone a little easier on myself.
It’s difficult for me to keep things in prospective sometimes. My ego thinks it’s a big deal, but big deals hit you when you least expect them. True pain and grief can’t be found on a highway shoulder. True grief comes when hate rules.
My heart goes out to the people of Norway. I can only hope we can keep our faith in humanity and remember Yoga’s first Yama: Ahimsa or non-violence. Whether its to ourselves or someone else, be nice to each other, will ya?
“Our answer is more democracy, more openness, and more humanity – but never naivety.” – Norwegian Prime Minister Jens Stoltenberg
(WOLFGANG RATTAY/REUTERS)
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