New Normals

Written by: Kim Kegler

Friday, it rained. Saturday, it rained. TODAY, it rained. And, I mean RAINED. Yet, today, we got on the bike.

Back at home in South Carolina, there’s no way I would have started a bike ride with a drizzle. That’s why we have trainers and spin class, right? But, FOR REAL, I really would not have been outside on a bike today but for #FCBALife.

“When in Rome”, follow the crazies, right.

I mentioned this craziness to Macy as we started to climb a hill after the rain let up a little bit; and she said, when there’s a group of people all out here riding in the rain, your definition of crazy starts to change and this is behavior becomes “normal”.

I think that was one of the best parts of the day. #PerspectiveShift

The more I’m exposed to something different, the more normal that different becomes. It is no longer different. It is my normal. THAT is way cool.

One of my favorite quotes is “Once you’ve been exposed, you can’t be UNexposed.”

Today, I was reminded of the beauty of being exposed. And, I like it. There’s a lot of power in being exposed. In just a few days, I’ve been exposed to people who share the same passion for #BikeLove but who come to the bike from a world of different experiences – relatives of Black Hawk pilots, super high clearance Pentagon politicos, World War I vets, CPAs who teach little kids, moms who dare to go into a home with mold and ‘sling a hammer’, grocery maintenance gurus, retired GM folks from the “west” and I could go on. But then, it’s only Day 1 of riding; and there are so many more stories and people to meet . . . More opportunities to be exposed.

I consider myself very blessed to have met people from all over the world and to have done some things that I could never have imagined even asking God to let me do. But, that’s one of the super cool things about the Big God we serve:

“God can do anything, you know – far more than [we] could ever imagine or guess or REQUEST in [our] wildest dreams!” Ephesians 3:20 (The Message)

So, I am super grateful today that I still have so many more people to meet, places to go, things to learn, questions to ask, and dreams to dream in the quest for greater exposure and a new definition of “normal”. Thanks for being a part of that quest, FCBA!

*Caveat: Starting a bike ride in the rain will NOT become a normal for me.

 

Posted in Blog, Natchez Trace Blog.