This line, from a song made famous in 1959 by Dinah Washington, Queen of the Blues, ran constantly through my head today. The first stanza describes perfectly our day as compared to yesterday: “What a difference a day made, Twenty-four little hours, Brought the sun and the flowers, Where there used to be rain.” Yes, it was cloudy but to [...]
Today’s ride was a moving ice bath. It poured cold rain non stop the entire way, I’m even sure it hailed at one point. Air temps were low 40s. Truly an exercise in expanding one’s comfort zone. So, a few words about the benefits of ice baths and expanding your comfort zone. Ice baths are thought to constrict blood vessels, [...]
"Always remember your focus determines your reality" - George Lucas What is worth your focus today and what might you invite to blur into the background?
Today I’m taking a much needed rest day and, as has been the case my entire life, rest days are harder for me than strenuous days. I’ve spent my entire life stupidly resisting “days off” both as an athlete and business professional, living by the motto made famous in Jane Fonda’s original aerobics videos: “no pain, no gain”. I’ve finally [...]
"The idea of the pilgrimage was to get away from the endless and nameless circumstances of everyday existence, which by degrees build a wall around the mind so that it travels in a constantly narrowing circle." - Richard Jeffries "For pilgrims, traveling is a spiritual practice to access places of higher meaning." - Brooke Williams I believe this is, in [...]
Today was supposed to be a rest day but after looking at the weather forecast for the next week which calls for Noah’s Ark kind of rain we decided to bike today and rest tomorrow. The most noteworthy part of the day were the number of vultures devouring carrion along the route. We’ve seen these birds throughout Texas up close [...]
I lost my mom to lung cancer on March 28, 2005. It's crazy how 15 years can simultaneously feel like a lifetime and yesterday. She had a sarcastic wit, loved animals, worshiped the sun and loved living in Arizona, was a huge Bon Jovi fan, and my best friend. She was only 56 years old, and although she developed her [...]
"Mindfulness isn't difficult. We just need to remember to do it." - Sharon Saltzberg With so many ways to practice current moment awareness, which do we choose and how do we remember to do it regularly? Some people make it an early morning practice, taking a seat and setting a timer first thing upon waking. There are so many potential [...]
"Mindfulness isn't difficult. We just need to remember to do it." - Sharon Saltzberg With so many ways to practice current moment awareness, which do we choose and how do we remember to do it regularly? Some people make it an early morning practice, taking a seat and setting a timer first thing upon waking. There are so many potential [...]
Around the holidays, Isabella went on silent meditation retreat (something she thinks all of us should do, if she hasn't yet told you so - or bribed you into it, LOL). On retreat, meals were simple and served only twice daily, save a late afternoon tangerine or mandarin. She laughed when she told me about it, how she had sat [...]
"I met a tiny frail nun once, in Australia, while walking along a harbor, and we got to talking, and she said no one defeats cancer, cancer is a dance partner you don't want and don't like, but you have to dance... I never forgot what she said, and think she is right, and the words we use about cancer [...]
From Brian Doyle's essay "On Not 'Beating' Cancer" "I know a boy with brain cancer. He's 16 years old. He isn't battling his cancer. It's no something to defeat. He is enduring it with the most energy and creativity and patience he can muster. He says the first year he had cancer was awful because of the fear and vomiting [...]
"There is a great and awful lesson there, something that speaks powerfully of human character and possibility. For all that we speak, as a culture and a people, of victory and defeat, of good and evil, of hero and coward, it is none of it quite true. The truth is that the greatest victory is to endure with grace and [...]
While the road was flatter today I experienced my own personal emotional rollercoaster. I started the day on a super high with a zoom yoga meditation class lead by friend and mentor Denise Bonnaig but learned shortly thereafter that another dear friend with my kind of lung cancer passed away this morning. She is the third friend who has passed [...]
For those of you who saw our elevation map posted yesterday you know what I mean when I say today was another day marked by ups and downs. Very high climbs followed by descents that seemed to lead right back into climbs. What a metaphor for life !! There were a few hills that I really struggled with—the grade was [...]
A picture is worth a thousand words and so I will let the photos from today, the elevation map in particular, give you a sense of how difficult yet glorious today’s ride was and use my words to emphasize the importance of self care. Self care is any activity we do deliberately to take care of our mental, emotional and [...]
I rode today with David and our friend Bob and it made what otherwise would have been a tough day relatively painless. We moved as a pack, with David blocking the wind, me drafting behind David and Bob pulling up the rear and tasked with the most important role—letting us know when the 18 wheelers were bearing down. We changed [...]
Today’s ride was uncomfortable. 90 miles of uncomfortable from Sanderson, TX to Comstock. It wasn’t windy and it was neither too hot nor too cold, but the road surface was our worst yet. That, combined with 18 wheelers passing at 75+ miles per hour every few minutes made it a harrowing day—and with my years of meditation mindfulness training that [...]
Angelo was a loving, generous father, son and brother who was taken too soon by this deadly disease. He fought hard and remained hopeful and he will forever be loved and remembered not only for his courage and strength during his illness but also for his love of life and his family throughout his entire life.
My mother was diagnosed with stage 4 small cell lung cancer when she was 61 years old. When she was diagnosed it had already metastasized to her brain as well as other places. She fought and never complained for close to 3 years. She was able to meet her first grandchild shortly before passing away at the early age of [...]
Happy April 1st!! I will share the funniest sign I passed today in hopes of putting a smile on your faces. We passed a church coming into Austin and the large sign in front said: Even Moses was once a basket case. It certainly made me laugh and filled me with hope ? The ride today was, once again, mainly [...]
Patricia Beatrice Bartell Nugent aka Patty Bee, a native of Crowley, was born 1927, died 2005 of lung cancer. She was my mother and an amazing woman! My father died early in their marriage and she became a single mother of three very young children. She was an active volunteer in the City of Crowley in many organizations. She was [...]
Woodward, OK – Ms. Gloria was diagnosed with stage 3 lung cancer in March 2015 at the age of 78. She never smoked. She is a very strong woman who also survived breast cancer just 2 years before her lung cancer diagnoses. Ms. Gloria makes an impact on the world around her, spreading warmth and kindness everywhere that she goes. [...]
It was 2.4 years ago (being 38 years old) when I got my diagnosis for non small cell lung cancer and bone metastasis, #hope was the only thing i was thinking and feeling when the C-word came into my life. #hope was what gave me the strength to continue through 2 target therapy #tarceva and #tagrisso, immunotherapy (keytruda), 2 sets [...]
My Dad, Thomas Dekko, passed away from lung cancer at 75 years young in 2002. He was my biggest fan in life and made me (and all my siblings) believe that we could do anything...that opportunity in life was limitless and barriers are just something to jump over or take down for ourselves and others. He grew up on a [...]
"The words we use about cancers and wars matter more than we know" -Brian Doyle*** In the early months after Isabella's diagnosis, she grappled with what sorts of conversations to have with her self and this cancer that felt both OF HER and NOT HER. There might be something for us all to learn here. Wartime language is creeping into [...]
We rode 112 mikes today in a blustery and unpredictable wind. It required extreme focus for 7+ hours to maintain control of the bike and continue to move forward (as opposed to sideways!) I thought about the second part of my raising awareness mission—to share the meditation/mindfulness tools that have helped me so much over the past 10 years. Shout [...]
My Beautiful Wife, 53, passed away from NSCLC stage 4 on 2/19/19 after a 5 year battle. Kim was my angel and best friend. Sadly she was diagnosed too late, as many patients experience. This severely limited her survival rate and medical options. God brought us together for ten years and I only wish we would have met sooner to [...]
We biked another 75 miles today through west Texas on Highway 90 along the Texas Mexico border. Aside from the three Fed Ex trucks that passed us the only other sign of human activity were the border patrol trucks who drove up and down the highway. They have been very nice but at one point warned us that we were [...]
Mrs. Jean Buatt was married to Dr. James M. Buatt of Crowley, La. She passed away in 1987 from lung cancer. She has 2 sons, Robert Buatt and Lou Buatt, 5 grandchildren and two great-grandchildren. She is loved and missed dearly.
