Forgiveness

I know I was supposed to be writing about our travel adventures, but I felt compelled to step back and reevaluate some aspects of my life. Maybe this is a mini-mid-life crisis, or just age and wisdom FINALLY starting to soak in. I realize that I had posted a story about a negative experience in my life recently and I've been struggling with forgiveness. I'm not sure why forgiving someone who has done us wrong seems so difficult, but it has been for me.

My sister put things into perspective for me when discussing the trial I had posted about. She might as well have hit me over the head when she explained, "Is that how you want to be forgiven? Would you want the Lord to say 'I forgive you, but I don't want to hang out with you'?" Ouch. I am nowhere near perfect and I continue to struggle with complete forgiveness. I do know that as I make progress, I feel more at peace and can focus on the positive in my life. I took another step in what I hope is the right direction - I deleted my old post. The pain of being wronged is still there but the hatred is gone. Sometimes I think the pain is meant to linger, but for positive reasons -- it gives us perspective, keeps us from repeating our mistakes, and helps us think about how we are treating others.

Inspiration in Santa Cruz

I remember the exact moment I started writing again - like it was yesterday. Well, because it was yesterday. We had hopped on our bikes and, following combined directions from our smartphone and a local youth, headed out to find some hidden treasures in Santa Cruz, California. As usual, I popped in a single headphone, shuffled my playlist, and started the long uphill grind.

It wasn't long before I felt agitated - and realized the source of my irritation was the music puking in my brain. I quickly removing the annoying earpiece and was suddenly overwhelmed by the peace of my surroundings. I could hear the birds revel in their joy of flight, the stream as it meandered through the forest, my tires as they tasted the earth, my breath whispering me forward. I thanked the trees for spreading their arms to embrace my path, hiding me from the scorching sun as we climbed on. 

Being tight on time but wanting to cover some miles, we set an alarm and agreed to pedal as far as we could before reality called us back. We were still climbing when the grating sounds of technology yanked us from our reverie among the redwoods. On the bright side, we were now able to reap the rewards of our efforts and enjoy the swooping downhill blast back to the MoHo. Headed home and already planning the next road trip!