"Praying for Peace"

And I ain't talking about the middle east, or the Ukraine, or any of the other numerous places that people go around shooting each other.  I guess it's a bit narcissistic, but my prayer for peace is for me!  Sometimes I find bits of inner quiet, and perhaps it won't surprise you to learn that when I'm working out, especially long undertakings, to be the most common times.  

With this realization came even more clarity as to why I do this stuff, and conversely why I'm so afraid of losing the ability.  Further to that, I recognize it as  a crutch, and if I can't find other ways to more consistently put my mind and my heart at ease, then I'm still in for an uncomfortable 20 years of retirement.  Particularly since any comfort I gain from my workouts is usually short lived.

Life continues to throw unexpected curves at me, as of course it does everyone, and I'm pretty sure there will be more to come.  I suppose the natural option would be to look at my title for an answer.  While I have a strong belief in a higher power, this seldom works for me.  I also know lots of people who are devout believers in a more traditional sense than me, who also fail to find their peace in prayer.

So tomorrow I'm gonna try something different.  Since prayer doesn't seem to work, and since my workout peace lasts only while I'm in  the middle of it, why not combine the two?

By the way.  I believe that both of these strategies work to some degree for the same reason.  Both physical exercise, and mental prayer, rearrange our thought patterns in a positive way.  Neither of them are because god "granted" our wishes.  God already gave us the power over our own psyche, and it is up to us to manage it.  Perhaps combining prayer (or meditation, or self reflection, or whatever you want to call it), with a good stretch of exercise will more firmly rearrange my neural pathways!!  I'm hoping.  Or is that "praying"?

And tomorrow's a great opportunity to test this all out.  There is only a slight chance of rain, the wind is in the direction to let me choose my favourite route, and I need to ride for at least 120 kms!

Let's see what happens.  God knows I feel like I need a break!

On other fronts, the swimming continues slow, but the good news is that with a 12 days absence from the pool it didn't make a lick of difference!  The other good news is that I get quite relaxed, and can generally zone out for 120 lengths or so.  Although the actual race distance is 3860 metres, I don't feel any need to do the whole thing in training.

3200 metre swim,  2:18/100 metres

....I think this quote works both on a macro (worldview) scale, and on a micro (personal) scale

"If we have no peace, it is because we have forgotten that we belong to each other."---Mother Teresa

Love

Peter