SUNDAY STORIES | WEEKEND CHRONICLE
Updated: Oct 9, 2022
This weekend my husband, John Griffiths, our furry kid, Peaty, and I escaped for a mental health respite (a.k.a camping and high elevation mountain biking with our friend Evan Chute and others)
It was great, hard, cold, hot and just what we needed. I thought of you all several times in the weekend including on our rides, Leaders:
#1. Overall, mental health matters. Feeling spent, burned out, frazzled, busy brained, numb or anything along these lines?
Find a way to step back and tend to mental health. Life is impossibly short and needs to be enjoyed.
#2. Saturday we did an intense ride including views like shown below - 26 7 miles - 3.5K feet of climbing topped out at 11.5K ft - 5.6K of relentless ft descending through loose boulder fields (not kidding) - that I definitely needed my knee pads for.
The relatable takeaway is 👉 In work, no matter if it's your current role, new role or new job, figure out what your "knee pads" are - ask for them - and use them. Seriously. On the trails my knee pads give me a sense of protection and safety on gnarly trails to go smart - hard - fast - and finish. In work we need "knee pads" too.
Ask yourself: What "knee pads" do you need to be able to move forward and succeed?
#3. Today we did 12.7 miles, 800 ft of climbing, 3K ft of descending and topped out at 12K ft.
The moral of this story 👉 If someone/people pass(es) you on the trail (or in work) - if they get a job or title or promotion you wish you did - if they get shine you wish was yours ➡️ DO NOT TAKE IT PERSONALLY. IT HAS NOTHING TO DO WITH YOU.
Don't let your ego get bruised. Don't retaliate. If you are on the trail DO NOT SPRINT TO LITERALLY BUZZ HER BACK TIRE like the jackass did to me today. Face it with grace, celebrate their success and evolution & (re)focus on yours.
#4. On this historic day: 9.11.
I was in lower Manhattan that morning - out looking at an apt I was trying to rent - and was there for the next 10 days. The roommate of the woman I met with was lost in the Towers. This morning my sister referenced it and said to me: "I'm so grateful you are here."
That entire experience was long lasting for so many.
Refer to #1 above: mental health matters.