Eye of the tiger...

 

THE LULU CHRONICLES

LuLu-ism # 56: Sometimes we just need a good swift kick in the kester.

Warms breezes, sunshine, blue skies. We, here in Wisconsin, are experiencing a phenomenon, an almost downright grade B miracle. Spring. After the snowy-est winter on record, the daffodils have decided to poke their frilly heads up out of the ground and give it a go. And to celebrate, LuLu (my pink bike) and I took to the back roads of the countryside.

So, yesterday here we are riding down a country lane enjoying the sights, waving at the donkey and the peacock (our neighbor’s version of a cat and a dog), gliding past emerald grasses, my  lovely gray locks being tossed in glamourous disarray by the breeze and what’s got my attention? The Cowgirl (in delicate terms: my behind, my tush, the kester)! That’s right, The Cowgirl was in full revolt. After a long winter tucked inside and comforted by double layers of wooly long-johns and soft couch cushions, The Cowgirl was appalled to find nothing separating her from a barbwire-wrapped bicycle seat but the mere thinness of lycra. You would have thought I asked her to strip naked and plop herself down on hot coals.

When The Cowgirl ain’t happy, it’s one miserable ride, and there’s no convincing her to buck up and endure. There’s not a pep talk in the world that’s going to cajole her into thinking there’s better times ahead. Her ears are closed to the Rocky theme song. It’s simply too hard. She can’t do it. She wants to quit. She wants to me to walk the rest of the way home. She begs me to slap a ‘For Sale’ sign on LuLu the minute we crawl up the driveway.

It dawned on me yesterday as I stood on my pedals coasting downhill that The Cowgirl’s attitude mimics one of the ills of our society. When things get tough, quit. We see it in our children when they don’t finish their homework. We see it in our marriages when things get hard. We see it in the workplace when projects get dicey. We see it in our churches when behavior is challenged. Sticking it out. Working it through. Pulling up the bootstraps. These are the characteristics that make one great. These are also the character traits that I fear are vanishing from the landscape and should probably be put on the close to extinction list.

It’s silly to ask why is it so hard to do the hard stuff. Because it’s hard, duh! But if we don’t do it, if we don’t work through the tough stuff, if we keep giving in to the weakness of our nature, we’ll never enjoy the really good stuff. A good grade. A marriage forged by fire. A job well done. A faith grown.

So, I didn’t give in to the whining of The Cowgirl. Yep, she was sore. Yep, I walked funny for a few hours afterwards. Yep, I’m going to do it again today and tomorrow. No pain. No gain.

Got something hard up ahead? Lean into it. Face it head on. The Eye of the Tiger, baby. The eye of the tiger…

Later,

deb