Category: Journaling

what i have learned watching the Tour de France

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Le Tour de France 100For the past three weeks, I have watched the 100 edition of the Tour de France: an epic bicycle race of over 180 riders participating in 21 stages all over the country of France.  The stages average over 100 miles each and some feature the mountains of the Pyrenees and the Alps.

Most people in the States know of the Tour because of Lance Armstrong and doping. I was intrigue and for the past three years I have come to appreciate the race despite of its faults.

Below are some of the things that I have learned while watching:

1.  This earth is a truly beautiful place!  As the riders race of 2000 miles all around the french countryside, they past some truly beautiful sites: fields of lavender, hundreds of wine vineyards, the beautiful mountains and crystal clear streams, the beaches with the lovely blue green water, all of it so gorgeous and speaking to the goodness of its Creator!

2.  The mind is a powerful thing!  On stage17 this year, the riders raced up Alpe d’Huez, a mountain that goes up for over 8 miles.  And the riders had to do it twice in one day! And most did! It’s amazing what you can do when you set your mind to it.

3. In life, one should always strive for something.  While in the restaurant Zoe’s Kitchen, I saw that the restaurant was sponsoring a runner named Zoe Romano who was running, that’s right, RUNNING the entire route of the Tour de France, all 2000+ miles for charity!  You’ve got to be kidding me!  Why would anyone do that!?!?! She’s insane but oh so inspirational! Check her out at http://www.zoegoesrunning.wordpress.com

4. It takes getting to know to fully understand. Not only is there a race for the maillot jaune (yellow jersey for the overall winner) in the Tour, but there is a winner for the best sprinter, the king of the mountains, and the youngest rider of the Tour.  These are often four different men. Also during the 21 stages, there are individual winners. And the overall winner of the yellow jersey does not necessarily have to or need to win any stages.  It is only by watching and learning about the Tour did I come to begin to understand it. And it became very interesting.

5. Keep an open mind. I learned this from watching something that in the past I had absolutely no interest or desire to see.  Frankly, I thought the Tour would be boring and mundane. However, it has turned into a truly enlightening, especially culturally, and motivating experience that I have begun to look forward to every year. Check it out next June and online at: http://www.letour.com

And finally…

5. “Cote” means hill and “Col” means mountain pass in French. I think.

Vive le Tour!

enjoy life…

i’m back!!!!!!

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Hello All!

I know! I disappeared on you for half a year or so!  I was recharging, renewing the batteries, reading, discovering and coming up with all kinds of wonderful things to rant, uh, share, with you.

To start, my friend, Jamila of jamilaspeaks.com posted a very thought-provoking quote on Facebook today and I would like to share it with you now:  “You are a non-renewable resource.”

So, here’s to STAYING renewed and as always…

enjoy life…

friday’s “secret” – being grateful = being happy

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In my “pursuit of happiness” journey, I have discovered and/or epiphanized (I know, it’s not a word but I like it) a few things.  One, I must define “happiness” for myself; no one can define it for me.  Two, my definition will not be the same as another person’s definition, and that is okay.  And three, my personal definition of happiness includes peace and contentment. I do not always have to feel joy to consider myself happy.

One of the quickest ways for me to get to peace and contentment is for me to feel gratitude and thankfulness. It is another “secret” to happiness.  And as we are in the  season of Thanksgiving, I thought I would take a moment a share some (there is no way that I could list them all; the post would go on forever) of the things that I am grateful for:

  • I am grateful for a wonderful husband who is beyond 100% supportive of my efforts to discover and pursue what I was born to do.  Right now, we do not have a lot of money and Ramen and spaghetti are fast becoming dietary staples, but he does not complain. He is absolutely, totally awesome!
  • I am grateful for my mommy, daddy, and sister who step in all of the time and give us a break from that Ramen and spaghetti.  They are 100% supportive of my pursuing my dreams and help out in all kinds of ways: financially, emotionally, mentally, spiritually.  I could NOT do this without them.
  • I am grateful for my friends and family who are supportive; each in their own way.  I believe I heard Oprah say that you need different friends for different things and I am glad God has brought these different kinds of people into my life to help me and to inspire me:Cheri, Mel, Jamila, Joy, Ms. Griffin, Marian, Erica, Dr. Mc, Katie, Jessica and Vince, Marilyn, Mark, Marjie, Lucas…
  • I am grateful for my little min pin, Bimmer [BEAM-er] who is by my side everyday I am in the office working on this thing I call my life.
  • I am grateful for the book “The Happiness Project” by Gretchen Rubin that inspired me to pursue happiness in such systematic, almost academic, way. Some have said that this concept is an oxymoron.  But it works for her and it works for me.
  • And finally,  I am grateful to all of you who read my musings and my rantings, also known as my thoughts.  I hope that in some teeny, tiny way, my writing about my experience is helping you on your journey.

My challenge is this: to remember that being grateful equals being happy.  And when I am feeling some kind of way about my life, I need to stop and think of what I am grateful for. I read this quote yesterday I was struck by the truth of it, in my life.

“Given the amount of unjust suffering and unhappiness in the world, I am deeply grateful for, sometimes even perplexed by, how much misery I have been spared.” – Dennis Prager

enjoy life…and Happy Thanksgiving!