Jill's Blog#6- Staying on Track

Yikes…It’s been a week since I last worked on moving my bike trip forward. I’ve been trying to juggle a big house renovation, family, and work responsibilities, but feel like I’m falling behind. I’ve tried to take control by micro-managing the family- a nonproductive use of time. An overwhelming feeling took hold thinking about what pieces for the bike trip need to be put into place. Then I start to count all of the barriers which will prevent me from moving forward. How will I figure out how to link my bike route to the Prouty site and my blog so people can see it? How do I negotiate the computer program to put the final details onto the bike route? How will I coordinate family and friends participating on the trip? Will I have enough support to make it happen? I want to crawl into my shell and make it go away.

Then I tell myself, "Whoa, what are you doing?” I drag out my bike trip goals to read. One is in particular is blaring at me. It states, “Model to my children my process in healing my mind, body and soul, including embracing challenges getting there.” One of my biggest challenges is the barriers I put in front of myself. They’re a huge distraction. I think of the mantras I tell my children, (which little do they know is more for me). Just do it, one day at a time, little by little, instead of making excuses why I can’t do it. So here I am, working on my 6th blog, getting back on track.

I reflect on the process that has already unfolded to make this bike trip happen. I’ve made connections with family and friends. It feels affirming. I’ve worked through the challenges of working on the computer to set up a blog and use a clunky computer program to create a bike route.

Last week I went to my sister’s house for several days to work on the bike trip. My plan was to make a few revisions on the computer bike route and then link together the Prouty site, bike route and blog. Best laid plans…we couldn’t figure out how to revise the map for the bike route, so for two days until late at night we slogged through remapping the route, but ultimately made new revisions with much better results. It made me realize that maybe I’m not quite as much of a Luddite as I thought because my sister had as much difficulty as I did negotiating the mapping program. In the process we began to figure out lodging logistics and revisited my trip goals to make sure I was on track. It touched me deeply that she too believes in my dream enough that she took time from work to make it happen. It also reaffirmed to me that to reach the most challenging goals that it takes deliberate work, flexibility, and persistence a day at a time; and as importantly, to celebrate the small accomplishments along the way to keep myself motivated.

Wow…an hour ago I was feeling overwhelmed after a number of days fretting about what I needed to do. Now I’m feeling grounded, knowing I’m back on track. Typically Todd helps me talk through these overwhelmed feelings, but today I did it with an hour of blogging.

Yeah, I’m just doing it, making my time count with deliberate work, and facing the challenges as they come instead of letting them become barriers. Later in the day I’ll revise the short Colorado leg of the bike trip and maybe will figure out how to link the sites. It feels good to be back on track.