I had a huge post written here, but it was just another aimless wandering mush fest, and I'm tired of that pattern. Let's get to the meat of what matters.
I am lucky.
I'm lucky to have the people in my life that I do, a house that is warm and cozy, the best animals snuggling around me while I type this. I'm lucky that I haven't been hit by a car in a few years, that I'm healthy, and that I didn't have a worse injury when I split my bike in two in June (seriously..that was some scary stuff). I'm lucky for a whole lot more reasons, but I'm going to move on to the thankful part.
This is where things could go long...
I'm thankful for my job. Working in action sports is a dream come true. Although it's not always easy I'm so thankful that I get to deal with the dilemmas that I do instead of figuring out how to market crappy products to people who don't really want them.
I'm thankful for a few things that may seem silly to you, but mean someone's life to me. I'm thankful for helmets that are well made. I'm thankful for good travel insurance. Seriously. If you go overseas, buy some. It costs next to nothing and may just save your life. I'm thankful for the kindness of strangers. You learn a lot about people when someone's life is on the line. Even those crazy ambulance drivers deserve high fives for negotiating donkeys and rickshaws to get us to the hospital as fast as possible. The staff in Cusco became more friends than routine check-ins. Strangers all around us, making everything better. That's not something to pass off. I look at people differently now. Maybe that's something to be thankful for in itself.
I'm thankful for bikes. Riding bikes has changed my life in the most incredible ways. It's taken me to the most beautiful places, introduced me to the most incredible people and instilled a confidence in myself that I didn't know I had. It's given me something fun to focus on when things seem otherwise unexciting. It's opened up a world of possibility of what I might like to do when I grow up...one day...but not any time soon. It makes me relish the fresh air and endless forests that we call the pacific northwest. Spending time lost in the towering trees, stumps that are 10 feet wide, and ferns that melt into one giant green flowing sea is better than time spent behind a desk, running on a path, or sitting in traffic. It never ceases to amaze me how beautiful our trails are.
Most of all, I'm thankful for my friends. Thankful, lucky - it becomes a gray area here, and one that I don't ever want to leave. I have the world's best friends in my life. Some I see every day. Some I see once a year. Some I haven't seen in ages, but are still as important today as they were the last time I saw them in person. I'm thankful that you make me laugh, that you let me cry, that you sing in the car with me, that you love tacos and margaritas as much as I do, that you confide in me and I confide in you. You walk with me in the rain, you ride with me in the mud, you laugh with me in the snow. You know my secrets, and I trust you with all of them. You are why I am the person I am. I owe every ounce of what I am to my friends and the amazing people in my life. Thank you for being you, for living (!!), for laughing, and being you. I wouldn't want it any other way.
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