Goals, Challenges, and Common Sense

My Epic 25th Anniversary ride is just two days away. I have a list of things I need to take care of before I can leave. But my mind is looking forward to the ride.

Over the past few months, as I have anticipated this ride, I found myself wondering why it is that I am attracted to big challenges and setting high goals.  That isn't the way that I was raised. Life for our family was more about survival than achievement. Maybe that is the answer. Maybe those two do go together.

Spending 20+ days riding a motorcycle all around the United States, in every kind of weather, from sun up till sundown, is a challenge.  Adding difficult goals to the beginning and ending of such a ride heightens the challenge.  There is no question that it will be difficult. I have no doubt that it will at times be painful. But something inside of me says it is something I need to do. 

I once heard John Maxwell, a leadership coach, say a quote that I've never forgotten: "When you raise the bar of expectations, winners will reach and whiners will whine. When you lower the bar of expectations, winners will leave and whiners will whine."  While I know that there is a little whiner in every winner, and a little winner in every whiner, I choose to strive to be a winner. I like big goals. This is a spiritual matter for me. Striving for excellence honors God.

But I also honor common sense. It makes no sense to do things that are unnecessary. When I get tired, I need to rest. If the conditions are too difficult, I need to take a break. If something breaks, I need to stop and get it fixed. In many ways this reminds me of the old days when I was an athlete. I learned to tell the difference between pain and injury. Some measure of pain is to be expected – but injuries need to be treated. That is just common sense.

This Sunday is Father's Day. After church my family is coming to the house to celebrate. My grandson, Niko will hopefully bring his floaty's so we can spend some time in the pool. It will be a great day. Niko will be three in August. As you can see from the picture below he already has a thing for motorcycles. 

Someday I will tell him the story of this ride and what I learned along the way. All roads lead home.