Option A. Find a bathroom Option B. Shit my pants

This is a little story for my fellow crohnies. As some of you may know I have crohns disease. You can Google it, but pretty much if we were playing Oregon Trail, I would be the one dying of dysentery first. You get the idea. If you don’t know what Oregon Trail is, then you had a deprived childhood.

It had been kind of a long day and I needed to get some exercise. I was going to go biking, but I have had a cold and sometimes I push it too hard on the bike, so I decided to run instead. I don’t really love running, so I was unconcerned that I would attempt to push it too hard. I mean let’s be serious here. Anyways, about 3 miles out I got that little feeling like “oh hey, I might need to hit up a bathroom sometime in the nearish future.” For normal people this is not generally an issue. For a person with crohns this is a more time sensitive concern. 

I hit my turn around point and was feeling pretty good. The stomach was a little rumbly, but I was confident I would make it the 3 miles back to my house. After about a half mile I started to view bushes and hedges as possible shitting locations. I quickly realized that the remainder of this run was probably not going to happen without some sort of uncomfortable situation. I was fairly certain there was a park at the next path, road intersection and started to pray that there may be bathroom facilities there. That was still a half mile away though and I was seriously questioning that I could make it that far. I continued to jog until the park was in view and there did appear to be a bathroom facility of sorts. It was less than a quarter mile away, but at that point I had gone into self talk, deep breathing mode. One step at a time. You can do this. It’s not that far. You are NOT going to shit your pants right here!

I finally made it there. As I reached for the door, panic swept over me and for a split second I freaked out. What if the door is locked?  Closed after six? Some sick joke the universe was about to play on me to kill all my hopes and dreams of simply using a toilet instead of a bush or my shorts. The panic was also brought on by the fact that I had about 3 seconds before all hell would break loose in front of families playing baseball. To say I was relieved when the door was indeed unlocked would be a vast understatement.

I had made it! Life was good! Possible pants shitting situation had been averted. Though this all took place in maybe a 10 minute time lapse, I promise you it felt like an hour. So next time you are out running or biking and your feeling kind of tired or unmotivated, just be happy you don't also feel the need to shit your pants. 

Car Free = Care Free

Last week was national bike to work week  and I decided I was going to ride my bike to work every day. After the first day, I decided I was going to go completely car free for the week. It was not an ideal week to do this. I had nightly rehearsals for a dance recital, volleyball games to get to, friends to meet with, errands to run and a not so short commute to work.

I could have easily decided I just didn't have time to ride my bike everywhere. There was just too much going on and I needed to work in the evenings. Then I realized there is always going to be too much going on.  If I didn’t make the time, it was never going to happen. The decision was made and I somehow managed to get everywhere I needed to be by bike. 

As the week rolled to a close I came up with 10 things that made going by bike pretty sweet. 

1. I could eat way more without becoming a total blimp
2. Saved me all sorts of money on gas 
3. Took care of working out for the day.
4. I slept way better
5. I was surprisingly more productive
6. I got to eat more. I realize I already said that, but I kind of love eating so I am going to go ahead and count it twice.
7. I learned all the back roads. So, on those days when I must drive and there is a major traffic jam, I now know the super secret  back roads to get around it. Plus I never had to worry about parking! 
8. I got to be outside and enjoy the beautiful weather on a bike with friends 
9. I GOT TO RIDE MY BIKE EVERY DAY!
10. Way less drama and stress  

Aside from all the obvious reasons for riding a bike, the one that I wasn't expecting was for life to actually get less stressful.  A large chunk of my time was going towards commuting and I simply ran out of time for drama. If there was something bothering me I had a solid ride coming up to work through it. Amazing how a few miles on the bike clears the head and whatever may have been eating away at me became less significant.  

There are endless reasons I could give as to why riding a bike to get around is better. I could come up with a counter to almost every excuse there is. All, but the not enough time excuse. All the convincing in the world isn't going to work,  until you decide to make the time for it. Life is never going to slow down. "I'm to busy." and "I don't have enough time."  will always be excuses to not do something. Unless YOU MAKE the time, it’s never going to happen. 

How many things in your life are you not doing because you don’t have time? How many people are you neglecting because there is just too much going on right now? Seasons end, people move on, and eventually you are actually out of time. So stop now! Decide who or what is important to you and make time for it, because eventually it will be too late, your time will be up and you may have missed out on something really amazing. 

Make Time. Ride Bikes. Live Well