Morning Stories: The process
Old cyclists and the celebration of life
This morning my thoughts are very practical. The day is all about my husband’s race and making sure everything goes according to plan. As far as I can, of course, because not everything is in my hands. Which is also good, otherwise it would be too much of responsibility. I like and hate his race days. I like the atmosphere of focus and still some enjoyment, but I hate the stress it brings for me. Because I want to be there for him in the best way possible and also I want it to go well for him. And this is something I have no influence over, which means that I’m often more stressed on the day itself than he is. Oh, well…
On days like this, watching these masters (cyclists from 35 years old) cycling and enjoying themselves, even when not everything goes how they hoped for, I’m thinking about the process. Sitting in the middle of the track centre I can feel the celebration of life going on around me. There’s competition, sure, but there’s also laughter and gratitude for being able to be here at all.
And the process, isn’t it what this is all about? We should have a goal in mind, but it shouldn’t be the thing we’re focusing on. The process, that’s the big thing and I tend to forget it and keep looking too far into the future. This way I stop the process, because some goals are big, maybe unachievable and I get scared and doubt my ability to reach them. But they are still worth working towards, because the process is the only thing I can control. And being here reminds me of this. That you can enjoy yourself even when you don’t know what the result will be.
I like how you have used the analogy of the cycling for life.