One day at a time

If you live in America long enough you get to know that "one day at a time" is a slogan used in twelve-step programs for battling addiction. (This is not something familiar to me from my youth in England, but perhaps it is the same there now.)

This time last week Hannah and I and 200 others had just started our Hazon NY Ride. We had experienced a wonderful Shabbat retreat and were embarking on a cool but beautiful morning on our fabulous adventure on wheels.

Pretty much the entire experience was a "high", and this week I have been whistful and sad that it is over. I feel a craving to recreate the same charge. I can understand how addictions start, because in a way I am addicted to the feelings the ride engenders. Like any such experience, the aftermath is a let down. A friend commented that my posting about this year's ride was something I had been building up to all year, and now it was done what else am I going to write about. The bigger question is, what is going to keep me on my bike?

This morning I am looking forward to my "regular" 40 mile ride with Guy Sapirstein, who is training for a century ride in a couple of weeks. And, this year I hope to stay more fit over the winter (instead of "letting go" as I did, more or less, last year).

All in all, my strategy is to take it one day at a time.

1 comment:

Gregg Stern said...

I too am addicted, Richard. In part, do to you!

Let's see whether the exhilaration can be reproduced, only partially of course, in the "laboratory" of the spin cycle classroom.