Adversity

Watching the Olympics reminds me how amazing the athletes are and what they give up in order to compete at such an elite level. You can get a glimpse of their character when they fall or when they stand on the podium.

While out riding in Iowa the largest adversity I faced was lack of sleep. As I was pushed to the breaking point each day with the 70, 80, 90 mile back-to-back days and the 5 hours a sleep a night; I am ashamed to say that my character is quite lacking. It became even more evident in the FU fight I had. Are you asking what an FU fight is, well, its goes something like, “F#$K you!”, “No, F@&K you!”, “No, F!%K YOU!”.

If you know me well, you know that it takes a lot to get me to the FU point. Lack of sleep makes me grumpy and fussy (to put it lightly). I would be totally embarrassed if that FU fight was replayed on television clips, or worse yet, if my friends did not forgive me.

Each day I am reminded on how much growing I have yet to do. Life shows us much adversity and I hope that one day my character will reflect the will power it takes to be the better person.

These past couple of days I seem to be missing Mom more. I see her in the little things, like an old bottle of Sprite that she had written her name on; and I see her in the big things like Ricky and I buying a house. I hate that she is not here to share all these moments with me and I do not think it is fair that she is not here anymore. I want her back. Not the sick weak body that she was at the end but the strong spirited women that would drag me around shopping, and I hate shopping. That is how much I miss her. I would want her back to do something that I despised doing, just to be with her again.

Sometimes I think I already have too much character and I do not need any more adversity to grow my character. Each day brings me more. More work, more training, more family, and more of life. But it is my character that I have to sleep with each night and I hope to give myself a peaceful night’s rest- eight straight hours.