Before you can fully love others, you need to love yourself. Before you can love yourself, you need to know and accept yourself. For who you are. Exactly as you are. Exactly now, with no changes whatsoever. That's not easy for any of us.
You are an image of The Divine. Mortality, warts and all, you are whole, and complete, and fully worthy of love. It helps to appreciate that about yourself if you aspire to see others as whole and complete and fully love-able. I'm not fully there. But it's an aspiration.I find it easy to acknowledge many weaknesses. What I want to do is simply accept them as reality and work from that reality. Whatever that means today. If I have an Achilles heel, it's probably my knees. Many years ago I switched from running to cycling due to knee pain. After millions of pedal strokes my knees feel fairly stiff in the morning. I'm grateful for railings.
What's amazing is that a half hour of cycling or a half hour of core strength exercises can restore completely fluid motion. I get an immediate and noticeable benefit from just a little time on the bike. I feel great. And it lasts a while, too!
This morning's basement workout was half an hour of spinning -- alternating between high cadence and moderate torque. I maintained essentially the same power output but varied what I was doing with that power. I concentrated on maintaining even power delivery through the whole pedaling circle. This is much easier with bike shoes and clipless pedals it's pretty tough with vintage rat-trap pedals, and impossible with sneakers and flat pedals. I think this helps build and balance the muscles that support my knees. Mostly felt it in the calves.
As a cyclist, it doesn't hurt to love your bicycle. After all, it bears you.
Chris sent me this an awesome old video of Raleigh bicycle fabrication in 1945. Enough to make any cyclist fall in love with the machine all over again.
Treat your machines with love. Enjoy the day!
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