You can change your state of mind simply by changing your state of mind. Easier: change your physical state, and your state of mind will change, too. A belief is just something you think over and over.

I was on the Katy Trail in MO pulling my dog in the trailer this summer. This turned out to be my longest ride ever to that point in time. On the trail going out I met a woman coming towards me in a motorized wheelchair. We exchanged pleasantries. I noticed that I never saw her distinctive tracks going the other direction all day, so I assume she used the trail for travel, and probably on a regular basis.

When I stopped for lunch, I met a guy that was traveling from Alaska to Key West by bike. He had broken his neck a few years ago and he was really stiff. He had also been hit by an elderly driver from behind while on his bike in Kansas just two weeks earlier. Watching him get off his bike was really painful. I don't know how he could keep on pedaling.

Later, at about mile 25 for me, I hit a serious wall. The sun was coming out after a cloudy, windy day (no rain!). I'd been on the bike for at least 3 hours and away from camp since 8 am. It was closing in on 3:00, and with the dog behind me my average speed was only about 7. The dog was getting too tired to run, but I made him run through the shady parts and pulled him in the sunny parts. The only thing to do is keep pedaling, so I started making up songs. "Just keep pedaling. Avoid the cracks. This surface used to be railroad tracks!" About 2 miles from camp, I just had to stop. I pulled a pillow out of the trailer and sat on it. The dog crashed in the deeper shade behind the trailer. I sat there a few minutes, drinking water, eating a banana, and listening to the cicadas and smelling the corn and sunflowers and weeds. Then, like a bolt of lightening, it hit me and I said out loud, "What the HELL!?! I'm not in any freaking WHEELCHAIR! I don't have to ride all the way to KEY WEST!" I zipped the dog back into the trailer, got back on the bike and sprinted the rest of the way to camp.

I just decided (with the help of two inspirational people) not to think the way I was thinking. That's how you change your mind.

Karen