Friday, August 28, 2009

Perspective

I'm so freaking geeked about Pelotonia this weekend! I've been really frustrated with training and feeling burnt out and not having enough time to do anything that I want to do, and I think this is exactly what I need. This is all about perspective.

The energy that you can feel when you get in the middle of a crowd of people, all brought together by the same cause is always amazing, and I don't expect this to be any different. Pelotonia will raise over 4.5 MILLION dollars, all of that going directly to the James Cancer Hospital at Ohio State.

I've never been able to fully articulate why this is all so important to me. I was pretty young when my dad passed away, even younger when he was sick, so I didn't experience his sickness and death in the same way I would have as an adult, the way my mother did. I miss him more now than I did when I was younger because I now see all the things I want to share with him. In fourteen short years, he gave me a lifetime of aspirations, skills, and a the ability to look at the world with a critical eye and compassionate heart. I'm riding for him and I'm riding for me. These experiences help me remember who he was and what he gave me. He was a truly amazing person.