This post originally appeared on The Bike Nerd, on August 11th, 2011. Special thanks to Tim for reminding me of it.
It’s the reason your favorite band changes their sound. It’s why you sell your fixie and buy a touring bike so you can head into the mountains with a tent and a sleeping bag.
IF YOU’RE THE SAME PERSON YOU WERE A YEAR AGO, YOU’RE DOING SOMETHING WRONG [ACK! Link broken. Sorry!]
While I enjoy shedding pounds of fat, losing the weight of guilt and regret has been much sweeter. Instead of adding friends on Facebook, I’ve spent the past year adding real people to my life. Instead of just commuting to work, I traveled to 12 cities in 14 days.
I’m riding more miles. Losing weight. Laughing more. Being more mobile. Cutting useless crap from my life.
If you’re not growing year after year, you’re missing out. If you’re not making goals, writing check-lists of all the awesome projects and adventures and trips you want to do, you need to.
Come on. The stock market is tanking, there are riots in the streets, famine all over the world, jobs are disappearing and you’re going to spend the night blogging about how bored your are?
That’ll look great on your headstone; “Here lies whats-his-name. He was bored.”
Yes, I know there are bills to pay and mouths to feed, but man, you have this one life to live. You have an unknown amount of time here on earth to love people, inspire a generation and laugh so hard you pee your pants.
One day you’re going to die and no one will be able to email you, or share a story with you. We clutter our lives everyday with meaningless drivel, thinking it’s what we “have to do.” I tell ya, the only thing we have to do is love ourselves in healthy ways and in turn love the people around us.