Feeling Alive
Why would anyone jump 45 feet into freezing water, or ride a bike 7 hours in the rain up and down mountains? And why would someone train so freaking hard to run a marathon?
There are so many things that people do…things that make your body hurt…things that take all the will and mind power you can gather together. I think we do these things for the same reason, to feel alive.
There’s something about the feeling of pushing yourself to the limits…your own personal limits.
For some people the challenge is making it through a day without drugs or alcohol. For others it is pushing your body through exhausting miles of pedaling. Breaking past that unreachable point and experiencing the exhilaration that only comes in that moment.
Some people do it for enjoyment. Some to raise money or awareness. Some to prove a point to themselves and those around them.
But for all of us, when the limits are pushed…….there is never a stronger feeling of being alive.
Nice job Darryl. I love the feel of new adventures and experiences. I also am pretty fond of how it feels just to have your head down and grinding out a fast 50 miles, there is a sense of satisfaction that comes at the end of that, which I love.
Thanks, Eric. Your comments are always so nice to read. I hope you’re able to get out there for many rides with the “Feeling Alive” feeling.
Brilliant!
‘You are never more alive than that moment you are starring death in the face.’ – originally from a movie I believe, can’t remember which one. It stuck with me though, at that point I was in the middle of a decade spent commercial fishing in the Gulf of Alaska and the Bering Sea. Doing some of the most dangerous work in the world and facing some of the roughest seas and nastiest weather on the planet, and I loved it! At that time I didn’t realize what fire inside of me I was feeding. All I knew was life back on the beach was pretty good but nothing I did there came close to standing on the deck of a boat that was rising and falling 25 ft at a time, starring into 40 knot winds (and oh, BTW- get some work done!). The view from the top of a wave was a blended icy hell for as far as anyone could see, and then the boat would fall off into the next trough and crash into the bottom… Aerosmith came out with the song ‘Living on the edge’ about that same time, fitting, very fitting.
Fast forward a couple decades and I no longer have to so blatantly temp fate for that feeling. Like many I’ve learned to push those limits within myself. For extended periods of time now I don’t have anyone else around to nudge or remind me Im doing ok. I have found other methods, many of them these days are from the saddle of a bicycle. Sometimes for another reason as you mentioned, a charity race, etc. But mainly always to remind myself and to retain that feeling of being alive.
Nice Monday post buddy, thank you.
Thanks Daniel, I really appreciate your comments on this one. Yeah, I’m not sure which movie that line is from either but a similar saying was used in the movie “Fight Club”.
Keep on pushing the limits on and off the bike, my man.