A LENS OF GRATITUDE: When The Start Stops Us

Over a year ago I purchased a Peloton, just a few months before the pandemic hit.  Like so many times in my life I imagined a steady home workout routine, a rockin bod, and a great attitude.  Did I mention the pandemic? Life bumped my lens of gratitude out of focus.

Over the summer I got very into the Peloton club.  I was riding several times a day and I set a goal to hit 100 rides.  I watched people that purchased long after me hit the “Century Club”.  I watched people with far less time on their hands hit the Century Club.  But life was happening.

Today, 14 months after my bike was delivered, I hit my 100th ride.  

And I almost did not share it with the world.  I almost kept it quiet.  I almost pretended that it did not happen.  I felt embarrassed. WHY DID IT TAKE ME SO LONG?!  Why was I not motivated enough to get it done in just a month or two like some of my peers?  

When I got on the bike this morning, I thought about my best friend Jess McGun’s post, “Slow Is Still Forward”.  I have shared this post with my business mentorship clients, my family, and friends. I believe it wholeheartedly, but there was something inside of me that could not wrap my brain around the fact that it took me so damn long to hit that 100th ride. I am an enneagram 3, the achiever.  I move forward with ideas, concepts, plans, and goals at light speed because that is how my brain works.  But dammit, I let that 100th ride hang over my head for over a year and I almost refused to share my joy because I was embarrassed by how long it took.

But I got on the bike this morning.  If you are in the Peloton club, you know that people love to have their friends join them for a live ride in hopes that they will get that coveted shout out from their instructor.  I didn’t invite anyone and I selected a recorded “Year Of Yes” ride with Robin Arzon. I got on the bike.  In the words of Robin, I adjusted my crown and I started to pedal.

And then Robin started talking about gratitude. About using a lens of gratitude to view our lives.  About the power that lies in showing up for yourself, for your body. About the power that lies in your legs even if they are covered in stretch marks and cellulite or if they aren’t the size that we want them to be, because we have the ability to move and not everyone has been granted that gift.

I cried.  I cried when she said “I WILL NOT QUIT BEFORE THE MIRACLE”. Here I am preaching about not letting the start stop us, and I was so concerned about what everyone else was achieving on a goofy bike that I woke up every morning and pretended not to see it because SLOW WAS NOT FORWARD for me.  

So today, I am refocusing my lens of gratitude.  I am grateful for being here, I am grateful for my health, I am grateful for the opportunity to inspire others even if that means sharing the things that make me feel uncomfortable and itchy.

If you find yourself giving up because something is taking you longer than you had anticipated, or you have tripped, or if it is just far more difficult than you imagined, try showing up.  Adjust your crown. Refocus your lens of gratitude. AND DO NOT STOP BEFORE THE MIRACLE.