My Dad Rocks!

My father and I took a 35 mile bike ride yesterday (well days ago when I finally post this).  The distance is not too spectacular to a cyclist, but my father is 68 years old.  We took off to Akron NY to see my grandmother, some cousins, and their children.  We didn’t plan much, just took off riding.

My father set the pace for the first 6 minutes, then we turned into some wind, so I took the lead and told him to try to stay “on my wheel” so that I could pull him along a bit.  We were averaging over 18MPH for almost the entire ride, hitting 19.5 regularly, even with some wind in our face.  When I asked my father afterwards about the ride details, he told me he usually rides around 13MPH these days.  But that it felt good to be pushed.

Consider that statement, “it felt good to be pushed”.  Are you allowing yourself opportunities to be pushed?  When it comes to your physical activity?  How about your diet?  Have you considered what it would mean to be pushed in your pursuit of a better life all around?  My father pushed me over 25 years ago when he put my older brother and I on our bikes with some sleeping bags, a couple changes of clothes, a few pots and pans, and a tent.  We started in Lockport NY, ended in Lockport NY, and went through Toronto ON, Kingston ON, the Thousand Islands, Watertown NY, Rochester NY… we rode around Lake Ontario.

It took us seven days of riding, maxed out at 104 miles in one day, on our way to covering 530 miles of road.  I wonder how different I might be had I not done that bike trip at 13 years of age.  I always like winning, so I constantly set the pace, at times I would look back and couldn’t see my dad and brother.  But part of me was crying to just get off the bike, while the other part was saying “get there faster, get there faster”.   Today, I have the same battle in most of my workouts.  “I just want to be done… SO get there faster, get there faster”.

It feels good to be pushed, and being pushed is what allows us to do more.  In life there are those who are driven and those who are led.  Being pushed is neither, and it is both.  It is the thing that makes us act, but then our actions are based on being driven or being led.  I was driven for most of my life… by a series of events in my past, desires for my future and hopes and dreams.  When I switched to being led, it was like there was nothing driving me, but rather I push simply to push, because I am called to push.  To be better, and to do more… for Him and others.

I have a great hope that ALL of you will understand what it is to be led, and by so doing, will achieve so much with your lives.  None of us are stuck where we are, none of us are limited to do no more than whatever it is we are doing now.  We have life, therefore we have opportunity and time to do it.  I don’t care who you are and where you are in your life.  Great potential lies within and in front!  Go get it!

-Dr E (PS – I will be back in this afternoon. Taking the office staff to an important seminar at the end of the week, then back to normal next week).