The Hill

Day 166 of 365

Today, I accomplished something kind of big for me. We live on a long rural road with a fairly steep hill. To me, it’s a very steep hill. When I am on my bike, it is a very, very steep hill–pretty much a wall. Yeah, usually, it just feels like a wall.

I have been trying for months to make it up this hill on my bike. I try to get a little farther each time. My asthma doesn’t help things at all. In the last week or two, I have been getting close, but then it just feels like my legs are on fire and I can’t breathe. So I stop. I walk my bike the rest of the way up the hill, feeling a little bit like a failure because I can’t make it.

But, today, I made it. I still thought my legs were on fire, but I just felt so determined. And I did it. I made it up that hill. It felt symbolic to me in so many ways. I have been trying to figure some things out for myself, and somehow, getting up that hill has helped me.

Ron, ever my cheerleader, came back around on his bike shortly after I had made it, and he was over the moon! “You can do anything you set your mind to,” he said.

I’m going to try to believe him.