The Universe speaks to me

One of the questions I got asked by a few people this past week was: "Now that you are back from your Portugal bike trip, will you keep on biking?" You see, these people know me and know that I don't particularly enjoy exercising. So when it comes to fitness, I do the minimum necessary to be able to do the things I really enjoy doing -- like playing baseball, golf, snowboarding & scuba diving.

Since the reason I started biking was because we had booked the Portugal trip, my original intention was to train and get ready for the trip. Once the trip was completed, then I would stop since there would be "no reason" for me to continue biking. As I wrote in a previous post, somewhere along the way I found out I actually enjoyed riding.

So this past week, I was on my way to get a haircut and I decided to bike the 10 or so miles from my house instead of driving my car. On my way there I got my first flat tire. I've been riding for nearly 4 months and I guess I had been extremely lucky since I'd never had a flat before. From what I hear, they are quite common. Fortunately for me, it happened close enough to my house so that it ended up not being a major hassle. In fact, I was able to get a ride home from someone who is also a biker and happened to see me walking with my bike. He also recommended that I get a spare kit so that I can be prepared for the next time it happens.

Now this is pretty common sense and is something I should have done when I first bought my bike. The reason I didn't was twofold: 1) Lack of knowledge and 2) Lack of commitment. The lack of commitment refers to my unwillingness to invest more than the minimum (ie. getting a bike and helmet and not much else) since I was only going to be biking for a few months.

One of the things I love about how The Universe works, is that as soon as we change our internal world (mindset), our external worlds changes as well. However, the changes are not always immediately "positive." Since I don't really believe in coincidences - I believe that everything happens for a reason - I find it fascinating that I got my flat tire the day I committed to continue my riding. It is as if The Universe was saying: "Now that you are committing to continue biking, you better make the additional investment and get the necessary tools to make it a successful endeavor." So the flat tire became the stimulus necessary for me to do this.

In our courses we talk about how the best lessons in life are those gained by experience. And how if you don't get the lessons that The Universe is offering you, then the lessons get progressively "more expensive." I'm very thankful that this lesson was rather "cheap." It could have certainly been much more painful. Not only am I much more committed to riding, but I'm also much better prepared.

Technorati Tags: Messages from the Universe, Commitment, Xtraordinary Living