Note: This post was written prior to the tragic events in today’s Giro d’Italia.  Our hearts go out to the family and friends of Belgian cyclist Wouter Weylandt.  A sad reminder that we need to live each day to the fullest.

“Rise up this mornin,
Smiled with the risin sun,
Three little birds
Pitch by my doorstep
Singin sweet songs
Of melodies pure and true,
Sayin, (this is my message to you-ou-ou:)”

You know those little reminders that life sometimes tosses your way?  Like the time you almost fell off your Parents roof, and for just a minute you appreciated life more than you ever had before.  Or that time when the Tornado was approaching and you hid in your basement waiting for it to pass…all of a sudden your daily life stresses didn’t seem so bad after all.

It sometimes takes the Universe to send us a wake up call in order to appreciate where we’re at or what we’ve got….remembering what’s most important…and what should always be our first priority.

Or we could be like the great Bob Marley and wake up with an attitude of happiness and gratitude as found in the lyrics to “Three Little Birds”.  That song includes the above words, and also a mantra you should remember the next time you’re feeling stressed:

“Don’t worry about a thing,
cause every little thing gonna be all right.
Singin don’t worry about a thing,
cause every little thing gonna be all right!”

Ground yourself….or the Universe will do it for you.  But in the end…don’t worry about a thing, because every little thing is going to be alright.

A bike is definitely more than just a bike.  This week, I realized once again that many times it also acts like a “Destressinator 3000-inator”.

A few times in the past I have blogged about how being on the bike is often my only escape from the insanely busy and fast paced life I’ve been living lately…and here I go again.  I hadn’t really thought too much about it for a while, and maybe it was because the stress level had decreased a bit.  But it surfaced again.

It all started last week when I read a great post by my #bikeschool buddy, Mike Osborne (@egggman).  Like me, he also gets solitude and recharge from the bike, and his post How Do You Destress Over Lunch? totally made me feel better just by reading it.  Man, I wish I could have been there with him that day as he jumped hills and rode the see-saw like a school kid.  When you’re riding a bike like that, there is no way you can feel any stress.

Yesterday I felt my stress level shoot up higher than it has been lately.  When it gets that high, I find it hard to focus on getting out for a ride.  But I knew I had to get out there.  Do you want to know what’s super cool?  Within 8 minutes of being out there, I was able to clear my thoughts and the issues at the root of my stress were totally sorted out.  At that moment, I claimed my bike to be the “Destressinator 3000″….yeah I think I’m watching too many Phineas and Ferb episodes.

Thanks @egggman, and thanks to my bike for being the best stress reliever out there.