Same Hill, Different Day

My home here in Dubuque is in a great location as it is only a few miles or so from downtown, Hyvee, and the Mississippi River, but there is one small thing that gets me every time I roll my cruiser our for a spin.  It is this small hill I have to climb right before I get back to my front door.  It isn't much of a hill, just small enough and steep enough to make you feel it.  But the funny thing about that hill is that even though it never changes, my ride up it always does.

There are times up that hill where it seems to not even be a hill.  I can cruise right up it without missing a breath.  My legs would still feel strong afterwards and I would have a smile on my face.  Then there are the days where that little bump in the road feels like I am trying to bike up Mt. Everest.  It feels long and sucks all of the air our of my lungs and my legs start to feel like Jello.  By the time I get to the top, every person who passes me in the car has the same look of "Yikes, that girl looks like death warmed over."

I have started to realize with this hill, that because it always stays the same, it truly comes down to me and how I get up it.  Some days I have extra weight on my bike in the form of groceries or a laptop and work supplies, where other days I am only hauling myself and a cell phone up it.  Sometimes I might be in a bad mood from riding in a cloud of river flies or have a giant smile on my face because I got 20 cents added onto my HyVee Fuel Saver card.  There are days where I am full of energy and days where I am just surpised I made it out of bed.  But regardless of the day, I still have to get up that hill and I know that only I can be the one to get me up it.  It truly comes down to my attitude.  Do I look at that hill and think it is the one thing keeping me from my couch?  Or do I look at it as one more challenge left before I can get home and start my day?

Regardless, the hill stays the same.  It is the same distance and the same steepness.  Nothing about that hill changes except me and my time on it.  Do you think the hill sees me coming some days and thinks, "Well, crap.  It is her again."  Or does it think, "oh yeah - another person to enjoy my awesome hilly-ness!"  Or does it just feel blessed to be what it is and where it is in that moment, sitting in the sun and enjoying the day and welcoming its visitors?

Maybe I need to be more like the hill, to be someone who gives joy when you are riding down it and someone who helps with challenges when you are going up it.  But to always be consistent no matter the changes that are going on and to just roll with the road.

Either way, I know one thing is for sure, sometimes you just need to sit back, find your calm, and make it up that hill.  Because without some hills, it would be one long, flat ride - and who really wants that?

I had a small passenger on my ride up the hill today...