Day 57, Aug 25, Goodlettsville, TN
Another day riding in a steam room. I’m hard-pressed to remember when I have sweat so much. Yesterday I kept track and found I drank a gallon and a half of water and gatorade by the end of the ride, like from a river, then drank through the late afternoon and evening and still didn’t pee much. Yes, I know. And I did it again today. I felt weak and off the start of the day, but somehow, for some reason, felt better as the day went on. At the 2:00 break and peak heat, while refueling I was sweating a river but still felt OK to continue. By the end of the ride, clouds covered the sun’s radiant heat and I was moving strong singing along with Dan Fogelberg tunes. I did talk to my new friend Jay that I wrote about a week ago. He was near Indianapolis when he fainted while riding due to the heat. A dislocated shoulder and concussion have derailed his finish in Pittsburgh, so I am sobered.
A river ran through me, I drank and sweat it back out running down me in rivulets. We all drink from the river of the prevailing opinions and perspectives we live amongst and choose, and then sweat them back out as we echo back what we constantly consume. It feels right. But is it? Need it be that way? Can we not choose to step back and evaluate what we are consuming, what river it is coming from and where it is heading. We sweat out, we become, what we regularly consume. Judgement for judgement, compassion for compassion, hope for hope.
The river we swim in, in turn runs through us, through our hearts. I want to choose well.
A river runs through it.
Addiction is a brain disease.
It disables sound decision-making.
It is treatable.
Community is a river.
InJoelSteps.com
