I never thought aging would bother me. I thought I�d grow old gracefully, accepting the marks of experience as they appeared on my body. But as the signs began to appear, one by one, I became more and more distressed. I needed reading glasses; I began daily medication for hypertension; body parts sagged southward. The worst part was the weight. With no change in exercise or eating habits, the pounds kept adding up, and I couldn�t get them off. What I saw in the mirror no longer matched the image of myself I carried in my mind.
But was it really the physical aspects that distressed me so much? Or was it the
equation in my mind: Signs of aging = old age = diminished abilities = loss of dreams?
I�ve always been attracted to epic quests and physical challenges. Something stirs inside me when I read of someone�s walk across the country or a bicycle trip around the world. It makes me long to go, to break away from everyday life and challenge myself to a task that will test my fortitude and resourcefulness.
Adventures take time and money. Over the years I�d tackled these quests as I could, squeezing them in between various jobs. But then a sense of urgency set in. I was approaching age 50, in a job that drained the life right out of me, and it felt like there weren�t enough years left for everything I wanted to do. In a fit of rebellion, I decided to meet my fiftieth birthday head-on instead of trying to hide from it. I challenged myself to take a year and fit in as many experiences as I could until the money ran out. My U.S. perimeter bicycle tour grew from that challenge. |
