Have I been living in a cubicle for the past years?

On my ride today i passed a quaint couple wearing matching puke-orange wind vests sitting down at a coffee shop. As i turned to take a better look at the failed fashion attempt, I quickly realized that one of them was waving in my direction. I looked behind to spot the recipient of the wave. Horrifyingly the wave was for me!

Upon further inspection, I figured out that i indeed knew this rotund pumpkin. It was a very good friend of mine whom I had not seen in about a year. He looked so completely different from how i remembered him. For many years, we were inseparable; he was like a male version of me. We were two skinny bike racers traveling the country to race our bikes! But now he's sitting at a cafe basking in the sun while I'm still riding my bike training for upcoming events.

After a quick great-to-see-you, he told me what he's been up to, such as working hard as a higher-up at some San Fran powerhouse company and preparing for his marriage next month to the blonde bombshell standing beside him.

When it was my turn to talk about all the ways I've changed over the past years, I came up blank - still a bike racer, still traveling, still writing, still living everywhere but nowhere. In my desperation to come up with something, I turned my backside towards him and shook my booty - yep, the only way i changed is that i now have an ass from so many years of bike riding! Pitiful, I know.

For the next three hours of my ride, I was lost in thought. Am i living in a bubble? I do read yahoo news and even periodically pick up a newspaper. But for some reason hearing about all his progress made me feel like my life had been stagnant. Have i lived the past 10 years with nothing to show for it??

It wasn't until the end of my ride that I started to be clear on my life.

Some of the random thoughts that came to mind were:


Am I doing what I want to do with my life right now? Yes.

Do I feel fulfilled? Mostly.

Am I excited to wake up to my life? Yes.

Is there still more to learn about myself through cycling? Absolutely.

Am I happy? For the most part, yes.

For me, it really comes down to whether or not I am happy with where I am in life. Even so, I hope i'm not in the same place in ten years from now! Maybe I'll move to Italy.