SaSa's 2012

I've tried to write this blog post twice now.  I'm hoping the third time, this time, is a charm.  

To spite Dicky's advice, I can't leave my memory of 2012 as just this:

Usually the year in review is the easiest of all blog posts for me to write.   This time is different.  My years in review mostly focus on what I did bike related each month of the year.  My 2012 was a whole lot more than just riding a bike.   It doesn't feel right to completely dismiss everything bike related for my year in review blog though.  So, here's a short rant of bike related things I did in 2012 that I think were pretty cool.

*I finished my first 100 mile mountain bike race on my single speed and cut 90 minutes off of my previous years geared time.   Mission Accomplished

*I rode my bike from Harrisburg, PA to Ann Arbor, MI  PxC Bike Tour.

*I rode in total almost 4,000 miles (majority were mountain biking miles, not road)

*I finished my first 24 hour solo race on my single speed and in turn found that I absolutely love 24 hour racing (rigid, single, and solo of course)  24 solo

*I did some crit races even though they scared me to death Crit race

*I finished Iron CX on my single speed  Iron CX

2012 was a long year smothered almost entirely in happiness.   It was life mostly how I wanted it to happen.  

People came into my life.   I cut people out of my life.  I've appreciated each in their own way.  Some people came with a very hard touch.   Others with little effect.  All with some purpose. 

The following in short WAS my 2012.   Lessons I've learned.  Lessons I've had to relearn.  Mantras I lived by.  Mantras I will continue to live by.

This was my 2012:

"There are two types of pain you will go through in life.  The pain of discipline and the pain of regret.  The pain of discpline weighs ounces while regret weighs tons." -E. James Rohn

You must change to succeed.  Complacency breeds failure.  Change is the only constant in life.

Live life with unabashed fun.    It doesn't matter what other people think.  It only matters what you think.  Truly live life by your own rules. 

Be pissed off for greatness

Do what you can now.  You might not ever get another chance.

The mind is often stronger than the body.  Strengthen the body to live out the dreams of your mind

Don't be scared.  Be strong.  Just pick up the gun and shoot it.

"It's hard to dance with the devil on your back so shake him off"

Just do it.

"Love; it will not betray you, dismay you, or enslave you. It will set you free"

If you're doing something you feel you need to hide, it's probably something you should not be doing.

"Better to have a short life that is full of what you like doing, than a long life spent in a miserable way."

Become conscious of the coincidences in our lives

Life is an exercise in the creation of a menu of possibilities

Getting the negative out of your life allows room for positive to flow in and fill that space

Find strength in pain

I'm still watching this video every morning.   It's important to me to find the answer to the question, "What do I desire?"  It amazes me that I still haven't figured it out. Maybe I will in 2013.