Tonight is the night before I go on my Iron Man bike ride. Tonight, I am remembering how one of the scout leaders challenged all of the scouts to do the biking merit badge, when I was 11 years old. The merit badge consists of doing five 10 or more mile bike rides, two 25 or more mile bike rides, and one 50 or more mile bike ride. My dad thought that we could not do it. I decided to try, and I proved him wrong. Now I will ride thirty miles tomorrow, and I know that I can make it (even though I have my new dog trailer attached). I proved some important things to myself that year by earning the biking merit badge. I learned that I could handle pain. It hurt to go on the fifty mile bike ride, just like it will hurt when I bike tomorrow. I have learned, however, that the human body can handle pain for an extremely long time. You just have to decide in your head that you are not going to give up. What I look forward to when I bike is not the ride (although I enjoy that too 🙂 ), but it is when I get home and prove to myself that I could handle the pain and meet my goal. I saw an inspiring quote on the back of a tee-shirt recently, that I would encourage everyone to try to live by. I even try myself. The quote read, “Next time you want to give up, remember why you held on this long.”
Thanks to my scout leaders and friends and to everyone else who help me achieve my goals.
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