18th July, 2009 by Rich Dixon 3 Comments
Happy Saturday! If you’re new to THE CRAZY QUEST, you may wish to read about it here. Basically, I’m tracing my journey as I attempt to answer the question: What would you do if you didn’t know you couldn’t do it?
This week of training: 147 miles
WHY NOT CELEBRATE?
The more you praise and celebrate your life, the more there is in life to celebrate.
This week I achieved a significant milestone on the way to my impossible goal. On Wednesday, I cranked about twenty-five miles and averaged more than ten mph.
That’s not a big deal for any “normal” cyclist. Little kids ride much faster than ten mph uphill into the wind. Elite runners race at higher speeds. Ten mph is not very fast by most standards. (more…)
16th July, 2009 by Rich Dixon No Comments
Time is the coin of your life. It is the only coin you have, and only you can determine how it will be spent. Be careful lest you let other people spend it for you. ~ Carl Sandburg
Our culture seems obsessed with time.
Calendars and clocks dominate. Ask someone to dinner and they’re likely to pull out a PDA to check their schedule. I know people who account for their time in ten-minute increments and examine past data for patterns, endlessly seeking opportunities for increased organization. Efficiency’s the name of the game; how much more can we squeeze into each day?
I wonder if we’d be better off asking a different question: How much more might we get from each day?
There’s nothing wrong with using time wisely; we only get a limited amount, and we can’t store it for later use. And it’s good to be reasonably organized; missing appointments or double booking doesn’t demonstrate much respect for others.
But how much of our compulsive efficiency is driven by external expectation? How many of those highly organized tasks don’t have much to do with our central values? I suspect that many of those extra items crammed into every spare moment really represent someone else’s priorities—allowing someone else to spend our time.
I’ve said this many times—I’m not seeking extended leisure time. I want to have fun. I want to be engaged in useful, productive projects. I want to help others. I want to foster new relationships and nurture existing ones. I don’t want endless days with “nothing to do.”
I’m simply a bit mystified about why we seem to believe that those desires are distinct. If I’m doing useful work, why can’t that also be fun? If it’s not, why don’t I do something else? Why work fifty weeks each year for that precious two-week vacation when I can do what I really want to do? Why can’t I be productive and build relationships concurrently?
Our culture sells us a false dichotomy. “Responsible adults” earn a living; they don’t have time to worry about enjoyment or satisfaction. The whole economy’s built on our belief that we must go to work to get the money to buy the stuff. Once in a while, perhaps we ought to ask whether the stuff’s truly significant enough to trade our time for it.
Or maybe there’s a better way to get the stuff. I’m not advocating a life of poverty, even as it exists in America. But I also don’t want to run a maze constructed by “them” without concern for where it leads. We don’t have to operate according to the culture’s standards and expectations.
I want to believe that what I do accomplishes something worthwhile according to my values. I want to spend my time by choice, not by habit or reflex or accident or expectation. I don’t want my life to be someone else’s decision.
I want to invest my time on purpose. How about you?
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9th July, 2009 by Rich Dixon No Comments
Be who you are and say what you feel, because those who mind don’t matter and those who matter don’t mind. Dr. Seuss
I think we create most of our own stress.
I acknowledge that life’s not always easy. Some of our struggles are our own fault, and some aren’t. We all make mistakes, and accidents happen. But I don’t think our circumstances cause the stress. (more…)
4th July, 2009 by Rich Dixon 1 Comment
Happy Saturday! If you’re new to THE CRAZY QUEST, you may wish to read about it here. Basically, I’m tracing my journey as I attempt to answer the question: What would you do if you didn’t know you couldn’t do it?
This week of training: 143 miles
FLAT TIRES HAPPEN
Climate is what we expect. Weather is what we get. Mark Twain
Every cyclist knows that flat tires are going to happen.
You don’t know where or when, but flats are part of cycling. You try to avoid stuff on the path, you maintain the tires and tubes, but no matter what you do you’re going to get a flat occasionally.
It’s probably just perception, but flats seem to occur at the worst times. It’s raining, or you’re running late, or you’re miles from nowhere. Flats never seem to happen in front of a bike shop.
Life’s the same way. Stuff happens, often at inconvenient moments. We can’t control a lot of it, but our attitude goes a long way toward determining how unexpected events impact us.
In a cycle ride, the joy of the journey is often determined by how you respond to adversity. You can get angry, curse your bad luck, complain that it’s not fair. None of that solves the problem, and it usually makes the rest of the ride miserable.
Or you can chuckle, get out your tools, and fix the flat. And if you don’t have the right equipment or skills, you can ask someone to help. The generosity of other riders is amazing.
Same thing with life. A flat tire’s a small inconvenience, but your response can cast it as a catastrophe.
I want to try harder not to sweat the small stuff.
Have you ever experienced an unexpected “flat tire” in your life? How did you respond?
Related articles:
Enjoy The Easy Terrain
You Have To Climb The Hills
There’s A Top To Every Hill
The Crazy Quest
Please leave a comment, visit my website, and/or send me an email at rich@richdixon.net.
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3rd July, 2009 by Rich Dixon No Comments
Note: This article is a regular Friday feature that’s also posted at SetFreeToday.com
You can’t base your life on other people’s expectations. ~ Stevie Wonder
We waste a lot of time and energy trying to conform to the expectations of others. Our desire to meet someone else’s standards diminishes us in at least two ways.
“Their” expectations may direct us to actions that don’t add value to our lives. Sometimes I follow the crowd and act in a manner that contradicts my personal values, or fail to speak up in the face of wrong because of what “they” might say. Perhaps I scramble for excess material possessions because “they” expect a particular appearance.
Whatever form it takes, we waste precious moments whenever we do something because “they” expect it.
“Their” expectations may prevent us from reaching our potential. Society puts me in categories that tell me that certain goals are impossible. When I listen to “their” voices, I also accept their limitations.
This is what the LORD says: “Cursed is the one who trusts in man, who depends on flesh for his strength and whose heart turns away from the LORD. He will be like a bush in the wastelands; he will not see prosperity when it comes. He will dwell in the parched places of the desert, in a salt land where no one lives.
“But blessed is the man who trusts in the LORD, whose confidence is in him. He will be like a tree planted by the water that sends out its roots by the stream. It does not fear when heat comes; its leaves are always green. It has no worries in a year of drought and never fails to bear fruit.” (Jeremiah 17: 5-8)
When I try to meet the world’s expectations, I’m a prisoner sentenced to wander endlessly in a desert of subjective standards. I’m isolated from the source of strength and refreshment, searching madly for affirmation and approval. I’m doomed to constant, unquenchable thirst, always seeking but never finding true contentment.
When I trust God, I’m free. Rather than scrambling to meet “their” standards, I can rest by the stream, confident that He’ll meet my needs. By trusting the source of eternal truth instead of trying to hit the world’s arbitrary moving target, I can be assured that my efforts won’t be wasted. Nourished by the stream that never runs dry, I can know that I’ll produce the sort of fruit that will allow me to hear, “Well done, good and faithful servant.”
The world wants me to believe that I’ll never be good enough, that my past mistakes and failures imprison me in a barren wasteland of regret and guilt. By “their” standards, I’m destined to hopelessness, isolation, and despair.
That’s not God’s message. The same stream that nourishes and strengthens also washes away the past and offers a fresh, clean beginning. I can rest in His hands and trust Him.
I can be free.
What’s one of “their” expectations that keeps you isolated and trapped?
Related articles:
Average
The Mob
Please leave a comment, visit my website, and/or send me an email at rich@richdixon.net.
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30th June, 2009 by Rich Dixon No Comments
Some of God’s greatest gifts are unanswered prayers. Garth Brooks
Most of my frustrations arise from my own unmet expectations.
I always seem to begin a project with the unspoken idea that nothing will go wrong. Somehow, I acquired the notion that things are supposed to happen according to my plans.
But life doesn’t work like that. Unanticipated obstacles frequently appear. Important events rarely transpire precisely as I expect. I don’t want to travel through life peering around the corner for the next disaster, but things would be a lot easier and calmer if I learned to perceive the bumps and detours as an integral part of the journey.
Stuff happens. Life is what occurs along the road, not where I arrive at the end. It’s important to plan and prepare, but the quality of the journey is often determined by how I handle the events, challenges, and opportunities I didn’t anticipate.
I didn’t plan on being a quadriplegic, and I wouldn’t choose that circumstance if offered a do-over. But I wasted a decade in anger and depression after my injury, because it wasn’t supposed to be this way. When I finally decided to move forward, I encountered a number of interesting, rewarding opportunities that awaited me on my new path.
How frequently do I miss beauty or generosity or excellence because I interpret an event as a problem? What will “go wrong” today that might lead me toward something better than anything I might have planned?
What’s an expectation that’s caused frustration for you?
Related articles:
The World’s Best Excuse
Regret
The Illusion Of Normal
Please leave a comment, visit my website, and/or send me an email at rich@richdixon.net.
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