If you are starting out a PRIMER ON POSITIVITY

When you go to your first rides what you experience in ride camp and on the endurance trail might cast a filter on how you view the endurance riding sport. Will your view be positive or will it be negative. A negative experience will affect we more“sensitive” types as we don’t treat other people like this and have an internal vulnerability that draws “those kind” in like a magnetic pull.  It’s true!    But here’s the thing.  THEY. DON’T. MATTER.  Not really.  You know who you are, and I know who I am.  The problem (if there really is one) is in their camp.  It’s on them.    Our ride entry says we own our rental of the trail that day, and we have our camp spot, and the healthy thing to do with those kind of people is SMILE.   The problem with negativity is that it doesn’t balance out in our psyches the way positivity does.  A teaspoon of negativity can undo a quart of kindness on a given day.  Positivity is light as a feather, and negativity is like lead.  Which we let “in” is a choice. At the end of the day we choose if those few negative people will own our experience, or will we just close that door and go on about our happy business?



Here’s the thing.  If I get in my car and drive to Kentucky today I’d wager twenty bucks that some dude or dude-ette is not going to like my Indiana driving (we drive calm and sensibly here in Indiana btw).  They are going to lay on their horn, turn some rather nasty shade of red/purple, pound on their steering wheel, and just have themselves what my betters would call a fit.  I can make the choice to turn my car around and haul butt back to Indiana, or I can make a logical thought process that goes something like this, “Dude! You’ve got some baggage!.” Then hit the Mall for the perfect pair of wool socks, and later eat some good stuff at The Olive Garden. (Please notice that feeding my face gets slightly more emphasis than my fuzzy wool socks)  It is just a fact of life that there are a subset of people who have no joy and do not want you to have any either. That is truly sad.  If you run across one of these bad actors on the web, Facebook, Walmart, at a traffic light, or even at an actual ride remember those kind of people can show up anywhere.  It isn’t personal (on your part) it’s definitely a personal problem on them.  That’s too bad. So just smile and let your little light shine people!  Don’t give up your ride dreams, or your fun, because you run across one or two (or God forbid three) bad actors.

Now I’m hungry.

  Anyone want to drive to Kentucky?

 What I wouldn’t give for some peach tea, cheese ravioli, salad, and bread sticks (don't forget the Alfredo dipping sauce). ☺