This last week I did something very exciting but at the same time challenging. I did something I had wanted to do for years, like since I was a young child and especially a teenager. This is RAGBRAI. RAGBRAI standards for Register annual great bike ride across Iowa. (The Register is referring to the Des Moines Register Newspaper).
Ragbrai is what it sounds like based on its full title. It is a bike ride across the state of Iowa, from the back tire dip in the Missouri River to the very ceremonious front tire dip in the Mississippi River across the way. I am going to quote the description from the RAGBRAI website to better describe it in its entirety. The website says, “RAGBRAI is an annual eight-day bicycle ride across the state. RAGBRAI is the oldest, largest and longest recreational bicycle touring event in the world.” There are thousands of bikers every year who come and participate in this event. Bikers come from all over the world, so that is very exciting for someone who has only lived in the state of Iowa her whole life. For example, I met someone from Australia and from South Africa. The route changes every year, and this particular year it was in southern Iowa where it is very hilly. In fact, it was the hilliest year yet. (So glad, this was the one I chose to do first :))
It was a challenge. I was very exhausted. I got sunburnt on both my upper thighs and my lower lip. (I don’t know how many people reading have ever sunburned their lips, but it does really hurt, and it lasts forever!) I got a lot of bug bites. However, I will also say it was one of the best experiences I have ever had. I don’t think I will ever quite forget it, and I hope I will be able to participate in years to come. There were definitely some life lessons I gained on this trip as well. For one, make sure you protect yourself correctly from direct sunlight. Another one is to make sure to hydrate yourself correctly and regularly, and I learned the importance of watching out for both myself and other bikers to avoid accidents.
One life lesson that applies to both life and biking is to remember to break down our challenges. We had some long days, where we biked 80-100 miles. It can be hard to start on mile 1 and think about the fact that one needs to make it to mile 85 by the end of the day. It became a lot easier to think about just making it to the next town. The first town may only be 10 miles away. Once you get there, then maybe you could stop and get a drink, and make your way 15 miles to the next town. It was so much easier to make it throughout the day when the mileage was broken down into shorter distances.
It can be very similar to our everyday life. Sometimes we can get overwhelmed and anxious about our walk throughout our whole life. I know I can get overwhelmed and anxious about where my life will take me. Will I get married? Will I get my dream job? Will I keep friends in my life? Will I love where I live in the future? However, this is not what I should focus on. I need to make sure I just focus on the next thing. I need to focus on making it through the day and getting the things accomplished I need to get accomplished in the present. I shouldn’t constantly be thinking about tomorrow or the next week, but rather today and today only.
Matthew 6:34 speaks to this topic greatly. This says, “So don’t worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will bring its own worries. Today’s trouble is enough for today.” There are a lot of things for a person to worry about in a day. Even today, I am constantly looking at my schedule and what I need to get done in the day. I am trying to crunch the time, so I can get the most done in the most efficient manner. However, then I also get distracted by all the things I want to get done in the next week or on the weekend. This is definitely not helpful for me, and my anxiety will then only rise. It would be much easier to only think of today.
I won’t really have a challenge for you this week. It is hard to challenge you to do less. I have an encouragement for you all to be more reflective on your daily time. Don’t start to get too worried about the future days. Spend time in prayer, praising and thanking God for the day you have right in front of you, and ask for guidance and help to spend the time wisely making plans and only worrying about today.
Colossians 3:23 Blog 