This means YOU

It was Sunday morning. I had the rare opportunity to sub a spin class on a day and time usually reserved for what we affectionately refer to as the long steady distance. This time of year, for me anyway, that means a long run. In the spring and summer it is either a ride or a race. As we sat in the cozy confines of the House that Mirth built, spinning with unabashed harmony to a sublime Afro-Celts groove, an idea began to take shape in my mind, perhaps as a result of the increased blood flow, endorphin mix or a combination of all blending stimuli. The thought was an old one. Thou shalt have no fear. The thought grew and stepped into the light demanding an audience. Have no fear. Don't be afraid to try. Don't be afraid to go harder than you (ever) have before. Don't be afraid to go faster, longer, stronger and with more synchronicity of mind, body and spirit than (ever) before.

No fear.

And that includes change. One needs courage to step away from the norm, to toss a ta-ta to the tenable and tackle the tenacious. To do the outrageous. To attempt the impossible.

You cannot fail. There is no such thing. Only the next proper step in a series of steps we like to call your life. You may stumble. You may fall. You may suffer. I can assure you that there will be pain. But failure is not in God's plans for you. To fail is a verb concocted by man. We like to label things so we can compartmentalize and judge. Success and failure, courage and cowardice, wining and losing, good and bad are all hallow abstracts similar to our illusion of money, power, fame and time.

You cannot fail. Have no fear. Go, do, experience. Grow.

I was reminded of this last night as I finished the final chapters in Michael Hutchinson's The Hour. He had spent an entire year, painstakingly preparing a attempt on cycling's most revered record, The Hour. Sixty minutes of 'more-than-max'. The final two chapters describe his process of mind-body awareness as he circled a track in Manchester, England in pursuit of cycling's Holy Grail.

Fear's little brother, doubt, creeps like a shadow over sunny consciousness the moment things turn for the difficult. Can I do this? Will I fail? What will the people think? Will I be revealed as a fraud, a phony, a loser? Will it affect my credit rating, my relationship, my standing in the community?

Today, in tribute to both the writing and courage of Hutch and his work, I am doing a reading of the chapter in which he narrates his own effort on the track that day. The plan is to pair it with the Wine Tasting video. It might work, or it might not. That is TBD.

That I am not afraid to try I see as the next step. Here is a sample of the record attempt in Hutch's own words, in which I think you will see my point:

"This isn't fast enough. But just pressing the pedals harder won't help. I have to keep the rhythm. It's my best tool. I can make the rhythm do the work; it's easier to concentrate on that than on something as brutal as just riding hard. Riding hard is hurting yourself, like holding your hand in a candle flame. Rhythm is an art. It can allow me to do things I would never do if I had to face them directly…..Riding with no rhythm is like starting from scratch on every pedal stroke. I have to preserve the momentum and pattern of all the little things I'm doing to hang on to the whole."

He is dealing with his fear and doubts on the fly, in real time, under extreme physical and mental duress. He is trying to ride 34 miles in one hour and he is suffering big time.

Have no fear, you cannot fail. And yes, this means YOU.