Today was the first day of a 60 day, 3,400 mile bicycle trip. We started at 6 am from Ricks Market parking lot in Jefferson, Oregpnand got into camp in Dexter at 4:00 pm so we were on the road for 10 hours and we went 78 miles with about 1800 feet of elevation gain. I expected the first day to be very, very hard, and it was very hard, but not very, very hard. But I think tomorrow is going to be very, very, very, very hard with over 6000 ft of elevation gain though we will be only riding 56 miles. Tomorrow we will be at Odell lake lodge and we are going to take a rest day on Thursday there, and John the owner is going to take me fishing all day for Kokanee and mackinaw. Now that is what I call a great rest day! Today was a great first day of bike riding. I was able to ride the entire thing, we had no flat tires, a new bike riding friend bought my lunch, there was no headwind, traffic was minimal, nothing broke, and I am thinking that I will sleep very, very, very sound. I would write more, but I keep falling asleep and dropping my IPad on the floor. There is no electricity in our tent camping spot so I am sitting in the men’s shower room writing this with my bike tail light, cell phone, and bike gps all plugged into the wall plug in.

I don’t like doing taxes, but I do them anyway. I really don’t want to ride my stationary bike an hour everyday, but I do it anyway, in fact some days I don’t want to get out of bed, but I do anyway. It is a very long list of things I don’t like to do, that I don’t want to do. Why do them? Why not just take the route in life that eliminates all “have to’s”, and enjoy life to the max. In our day and age we are moving more and more in that direction. One of the new definitions of right and wrong is doing what I like and not doing what I don’t like.

Let me suggest 3 reasons to do what you don’t like,or don’t want to do. (1) Doing what we don’t want to do is almost always the responsible thing to do. Almost everything we do impacts other people in some way. Choosing to do things we don’t like to do because it blesses, or helps those around us is what it means to be responsible. When the kids were little there were many things that I chose to do because I knew it was the best thing for them. (2) The most successful people in the world are the ones who consistently choose to do what most others choose not to do because they don’t like doing it or don’t want to. To be a successful person means we have accomplished a lot of significant and meaningful work that will influence many people for a long time. (3) self-discipline or self-control is the ultimate in character traits, and most people are very low on this. Choosing to do what we don’t like to do, what we don’t feel like doing, and what we really, really don’t want to do is one of the best tools for self-training in growing in self-control. People with a high level of self-control conquer addictions, manage time well, don’t procrastinate, speak graciously, manage their money well, and keep the Lord first place in their lives, to mention just a few.