Day 33 - just THIS moment...

I slept through my alarm this morning, so I woke up an hour late. It took me longer to plot out a course and finish my blog and pack than usual. I left an hour and a half late. That's the set up.

As always, I need to check my map regularly en-route to make sure I am going in the correct direction. However, I did not have cell service at the beginning of the day, so I had to go on my map memory. But because I had to rush my planning this morning, my memory was not to be trusted... And, that theory was confirmed very quickly.

I followed the Oak Leaf Trail (which, by the way is the ONLY name that Wisconsin could come up with to give to the entire system of bike trails. So, at any given time, there are three DIFFERENT Oak Leaf Trail trails on the map screen... it was a little confusing...) This particular Oak Leaf Trail took me to a left turn and then a right turn followed by a left turn which kept me on the same road name. Get my drift?!? : }

Well, I was anticipating that last left turn when it came time to take the right turn, so, I turned left. I was surprised that after I had traveled the half mile the directions said, there was no left turn at a round-about. "This doesn't make sense!", I thought. I finally saw a Subway where I could find some more breakfast and someone who might know where I was. I asked where the round-about was.

"Behind you"

"WHAT? How could I have missed it? Are you sure?"

"Yep, pretty sure, after all, I live here and you are the one that is confused!"

"But that doesn't jive with what I have mapped out in my head!"

(meanwhile, the cell and internet service were extremely slow, so I had no map to check.)

"well, then, let me try a different angle, Where is 4 Mile Rd - since this road is supposed to cross there..."

"Behind you"

"What?! Why is the map wrong? I am sure that 4 Mile is in front of me and I am going in the right direction!"

This ridiculous scenario went on for way too long before I realized, with the help of the very patient lunch crew @ the Subway, that I had turned left when I should have turned right. As soon as that was clear, so were all their directions and the map in my head!

That's when I realized this: Focus only on this moment and nothing else. I missed that turn because I was anticipating the next one. And because I was concerned about what came next, the mistake I made created a string of events that left me confused and lost, all because I stubbornly refused to let go of the false information on which I was basing my logic. (all of this sounded much better in my head as I was composing this blog all day long...)

Kindof like the Lilies of the Field... the moment is the thing. We can plan, dream and reflect. But if we do those things at the expense of the moment, we run the risk of missing the obvious "correct answer". I've been doing a lot of reminiscing on this trip. I've also been wondering, praying and planning about what comes next for me (both the known and the unknown). But, today, I decided to focus on the moment.

This is what I experienced:

Conversations with; a Korean War vet who was soooo excited to see me & my bike and share his story with me, a young man on a bike who also started out in Racine and needed directions to his next stop, the lovely couple who helped me navigate the bike trail when the cross roads had no names, Michelle & Laurie, both from "the Island" in New York who helped me get back on track, the man in the yellow jersey, wishing his grandkids liked nature as much as he did, a woman biking home from work as she always does, John, on his way home from from a ride who helped get Darcy & me connected. And these are just a few of the moments that I've experienced over the last month, which have helped me get to where I was going...

I've got lots of pictures of the coastal rides along Lake Michigan, too. After all, sometimes focusing on the moment gets you just as lost as thinking too far ahead... : ) However, those will have to wait til later. My eye lids are closing fast.

Praying you can enjoy your conversations and your moments as the day unfolds.

#PeopleMet #Lessonslearned