It never gets any easier

After something of an exercise hiatus, and in spite of the frigid weather here in the UK, I'm back on my bike.

(It's amazing how something can be such a priority one day, and then, with a simple shift in focus/attention, it no longer is.)

Anyway, I've overcome the initial hump of inertia, and now it's a case of staying motivated by treating myself to favourite little outdoor jaunts that are still doable, in:

1. wintery conditions, and
2. my current state of colossal un-fitness

So the other day I decided to do a loop that includes a really gradual but long climb, from Pontypool up to Blaenavon. It's an old railway line that's been turned into a cycle track with a very steady 1.6% gradient, over a full 12km.

I absolutely love it—good surface, no traffic—and use it as a test of my fitness, because you have to get into a steady rhythm and then sustain the effort for around half an hour.

And as I was panting my way up there the other day, I noticed something that lies right at the heart of the inside-out understanding, that has really stuck with me.

I was chuckling to myself as I rode, recalling the quote from 3-time Tour de France winner Greg LeMond, who apparently said, of becoming a cycling champion,

“It never gets any easier, it just gets faster.”

…or in my case, slower!!! 🤣

And then the realisation hit me:

I've got the figures to prove it. I was almost 8 minutes off my personal best up that climb the other day, and yet the experience of riding up it, full tilt, was no different from the day I smashed my way into the overall Top 10 leaderboard, last year.

• My heart rate was through the roof
• I was panting all the way up
• I wanted to stop (but didn't)
• I'd committed and stopped fighting it.

I was just much slower.

🤷🏻‍♂️

How is this any different?

And here's where it really chimes with the inside-out understanding – you know, this counter-intuitive, but life-changing fact:

Because it doesn't matter how rich, or poor you are; how many friends you do, or don't have; how busy, or quiet you are; how fit, or unfit you are… because you don't get to experience any of those things.

You get the sensations of this moment, as created by the Principle of Thought.

And then the next. And the next. And the next.

So while it looks like you're working towards having more money, better relationships, more productive or creative work, or a fitness goal, all of those things are like sneaky little ‘I'll be happy when’ scripts.

There's nothing wrong with them—these goals are to be celebrated and enjoyed!—but as my slog up to Blaenavon reminded me, so clearly, it really is all about the journey, not the destination.

That's all you get.

💟

Giles

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