I’ve always loved symmetry. Maybe it dates back to high school drafting classes, when I spent hours moving a mechanical pencil across vellum, creating balanced architectural drawings. There was something satisfying about its precision and logical order.
When I considered a gift to myself for this weekend’s birthday, I knew it had to be symmetrical.
Born in ‘63 and turning 63? I had one obvious choice: ride 63 miles.
So I did.
Dr. George Sheehan, the legendary runner and writer, once observed: “Not to yield says it all. The enduring, the surviving, does not stop with age...So do not envy youth.”
I thought about those words as I pedaled through 63 miles on a chilly, glorious New England fall morning. The kind that reminds you how fortunate you are simply to be vertical, breathing, and outside.
Each mile represented a milestone in my life. Mile 9: moving to a new town. Mile 26: meeting my wife. Miles 38 and 42: watching my daughters take their first steps. Mile 51: losing my father-in-law. Mile 62: helping my oldest move to Manhattan and celebrating my youngest’s last college parents’ weekend.
And mile 63? The strongest one yet.
Stronger because I refused to yield. Stronger because life, like a long bike ride, has its peaks and valleys. And progress isn’t about avoiding the hills but rather, continuing to pedal.
As Kenny Chesney sings, “What good is livin’ a life you’ve been given if all you do is stand in one place?”
Exactly.
Age gives us another year of lessons, setbacks, memories and second chances. What we do with that year is up to us.
So do not envy youth. Find your own symmetry, celebrate how far you’ve come, and keep moving forward.
Own the day. Own the weekend.
Carl
