Rising Above

It was a beautiful day.  It started with a two hour bike ride at 9:30 a.m. in 20 degree weather with a light snow falling softly from the treetops as we hit a beloved trail in the woods.  I can't think of a better way to start my day.  I feel like falling in love with my bike all over again.  I just picked up a part-time gig at a local bicycle shop.  I've been over the top excited for weeks for my first day of work to arrive.

I wasn't disappointed.  And every day it just keeps getting better.  I work with a great crew, I get to learn as much as I want about everything bikes, and I get to talk to people about bikes all day long!  It's a bike lover's heaven.  It's lifting me out of my fog and reminding me to hope for all that is to come.

I've had some days recently when the only things  I could seem to focus on were all the things I don't have.  Rather than all that I do.  Stuck in that place it felt as though I couldn't reach too high for hope.  Just like every time before, I began to choose hope again.  

I've become very aware lately of all the leaning.  Me leaning on you.  You leaning on me.  He's leaning.  She's leaning.  Someone's giving.  Someone's receiving.  And it's a beautiful dance.  It's full of harmony.  Sometimes when you're the one leaning you might feel like a burden.   You're not.  I'm not.  It's all part of the song.  A new verse finding its voice.  Our stories wouldn't be the same without it.

Trials are always present in life.  If we aren't in the midst of them, someone we know is.  We all live with them.  With a smile.  Through tears.  Carried by peace.  Or shuffling through the uncertainty.  Today I'm grateful for the friends and family who walk, stumble, run, and fall through life with me.  Although the vulnerability we share can be scary as hell.....we share it.  And we rise above.  Together.

Here's a good example....