Maybe Your Non-Negotiables Actually Are?

“Watch out for the bridge…if you hit it wrong you’ll go flying over the handlebars.”

I came to trust Tom very quickly. We were riding side by side on a rather poorly marked trail through the woods and gravel fire roads of a local nature preserve, a 10 mile mountain bike trek to benefit a local charity. The bridge could have been a disaster, but I crossed over with ease.

Tom knew these woods. “I’ve been riding these trails for years”, Tom said, as often as three times a week. As this was my first time riding through the wilderness, I felt rather fortunate to find a guide to help me navigate my way to the finish line.

At a less intense moment on the course Tom mentioned recently celebrating his 76th birthday. I was silently stunned by his revelation. Seventy f’n six? His relentless energy and stamina were inconsistent with his age as he effortlessly made his way over the rocks and roots as I struggled at times to keep up with his pace.

Tom had no interest in finishing first in this race. That’s not why he rides. He rides for him. At some point in his life he decided what was important to him and made taking care of himself a non-negotiable. A mountain bike is his vehicle of choice and he consistently shows up and keeps the promise he made to himself. Nothing to explain, or justify, or prove to anyone.

Finishing the race – without flying over the handle bars – felt good. Quite exhilarating, actually. I’d accomplished something I had long wanted to do, and the primal nature of this event has me looking forward to doing this again. Tom, though, got me thinking about my commitments to myself. What are my non-negotiables? What do I often feel the need to explain, or justify, or prove?

Life, at times, will test your self-proclaimed non-negotiables. You’ll be pushed, prodded, triggered, and tempted. People and situations and expectations can seemingly conspire against the vision you have created for your life, undermining you and challenging you to be faithful to the commitments you’ve made to yourself.

Maybe your non-negotiables actual are?

Or maybe you just need to no longer feel the need to explain or justify or prove anything to anyone else.

Maybe you just need to get back on the bike of your life and keep pedaling your way through and around the rocks and roots and the mud of life’s wilderness and keep moving forward towards the life you know you’re here to live.

No matter what obstacles may appear before you.

Photo by Joakim Honkasalo on Unsplash