Beaver Lodge Lands
A Bike Ride and a Metaphor
"SOMETIMES, YOU JUST NEED TO ENJOY THE RIDE."
Today, Victoria Day 2021, I ventured out to do my typical bike ride through you guessed it Beaver Lodge Lands. But today was different, I specifically went for a ride to clear my head, and this ride ended up being an impactful one and no not because I fell.
You see todays ride taught me a life lesson, surprisingly biking has that effect. This is not my first experienced metaphor while riding, but this one inspired me to share.
So, lets, ‘back peddle,” to this morning at 10:00am. I am at the trailhead and I thought well if I am going to unwind my thoughts, I am going to ride to my thinking rock, you might just recognize this location from the view in the photo. So, here I am mid forest and thought NOPE I am going to explore new territory. I decided to take the detour and guess what! It was a blast up and down tree filled hills, tunes cranked and pedals to the metal. Thinking to myself where this trail is going to take me!
I ended up at my thinking rock of all the places. Ironically, it made me ponder about life and a vision of the poem on my desk. Here it is:
The contest lasts for moments
Though the training’s taken years,
It wasn’t the winning alone that
Was worth the work and the tears
The applause will be forgotten
The prize will be misplaced
But the long hard hours of practice
Will never be a waste
For in trying to win
You build a skill You learn that winning
Depends on will
You never grow by how much you win
You only grow by how much you put in
So any new challenge
You’ve just begun
Put forth your best
And you’ve already won.
Bill Clennan, Canadian Motivational Speaker