2010... Finding balance

Yesterday was the first day of 2010. So, of course, it was the first bike ride of 2010. I stayed with the group for about 6 miles before getting scared off by shaky riders and a very unsettled pace. We seemed to speed up on the ascents and slow down on the descents.

In the end, I had a great 46 miles of riding through Allen, McKinney and Frisco with only one wrong turn as I blew south on Ohio past Legacy and remembered, "Oh, yeah! I'm parked on Legacy!" A few minutes later I was enjoying a piping hot bowl of blackeyed peas and a slice of cornbread. Thanks, Sassykat!

An hour later, the group showed up and we socialized a bit. Maggie was going nuts with the camera, but I was able to get my best side to the camera after the ride. Apparently, my "friends" were kind enough to agree that it was, in fact, my best side... It's so good to have friends.

I was pleasantly surprised to learn later in the afternoon that I still remember how to ride the motorcycle. Didn't really go anywhere, but had a nice stroll.

We capped off the evening with a trip to the Fillmore Pub in Plano. It's great to spend an evening with friends. Which, of course, leads me to the point for today...

Whether intended or not, we all seek balance in our lives. It's crucial and unavoidable. As we move through life, there are new discoveries every day, and we tuck them into their neat little piles on the scales to maintain balance. The things we like. The things we hate. The people we like. The people who push all our wrong buttons. Perhaps the hardest thing to file away are those in our overlapping circles of friends that fall in our own "like" side of the scales, but balance to the other side for another friend. It's a chaotic place that sets our own scales swinging madly from stop to stop in search of that crucial balance. It's painful and disharmonic when our friends collide.

Perhaps what it comes down to is that, sadly, there are times when the only way to maintain the balance is to just take another lick of ice cream from the cone.