Downhill

The thing about going downhill on a bike is this : Part of your mind is always going "Hey, I'm on a bike, so this is exercise! It's not as bad as I thought it would be!" Forget the fact that you're not pedaling, or even breaking a mild sweat at that point. It's all in your head.

But whether or not you chose to give in to this part of your mind and believe that you are becoming a more physically fit person by soaring downhill at incredible and sometimes psychotic speeds, going down is an important part of the biking process. Not only because it's a break from the painful uphill that threatens to kill you off, but because you did, after all, have to go up to reach it in the first place. It's not only your break, it's your reward. Somehow, riding downhill if you've simply walked your bike uphill is never quite as thrilling. I always feel a little bit guilty for wimping out, and I can't enjoy the ride down as much as I should.

At the risk of sounding incredibly corny, I believe life, especially student life, can be looked at the same way. Maybe it's just me, but I never trust something that comes too easy. Grades, health, physical fitness. Love. I think that if we succeed in these areas, it's because we've worked for them. Because we were willing to sacrifice more in the beginning to have more in the end. I went through six years of chorus line roles and bit parts before I ever got a lead, and I don't regret a bit of it. I never would have appreciated getting a bigger part if I didn't know what it took to get there, and if I hadn't been willing to work for it.

I'm getting married in August, and I'm facing all manner of sacrifices. In fact, Brayden keeps telling me, "Less now equals more later." I agree with him. Yes, the first year of marriage is the hardest. But the couples who make it through are even stronger. We're willing to work for what we have, because it's important to us. And every now and then in the uphill life, we get that breath of fresh air as we soar downhill. A break. A reward. But we have to ride all the way to the top of that hill first. Then, the downhill is truly worth it.

**image lovingly borrowed from http://mtnbikersblog.blogspot.com/