Monday, May 21, 2012

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 



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