I like to go uphill first.

I’ve been biking a lot this summer, and find I like to go on the path uphill for the first part of the ride, so I can coast downhill at the end when I’m tired.

All summer I’ve been thinking about this picture and how it relates to life.

Bob and I talked today about being 50 (he is a little past, but I’ve got a whole year left in my 40’s). Many people don’t live to be 100, but I’m working on my health, so I hope to get close, all while being totally functional!

If my life is about half over, I hope I took the uphill path during the first part of my ride.

I know so many people who took the downhill path first. Some of them did it on purpose, because they didn’t want to deal with hard things. Instead, they ignored issues, or took the easy way. Others didn’t know there was another option.

I didn’t know there was another option for many years. In fact, life was pretty easy for a long time. I worked hard and it paid off. Kind of like the easy bike trails. They start off simply, with a few hills here and there, but they don’t really take much out of you.

It wasn’t until I started hitting the bigger hills in life that I realized how out of shape I was emotionally, relationally, spiritually, mentally, and even physically. I couldn’t handle the hills. They were too steep and they came one right after the other. There were no straightaways or hills going down for a long time. It was all uphill for about a decade.

I hated it. I protested. I cried. I blamed others. It wasn’t fair! Why was my life all uphill, when other people seemed to be coasting?

We lived out in the country during some of these hard times. It took me 1/2 hour each way to pick up my kids from school. I listened to New Life Live (a Christian Call-in Counseling program) on the radio for several years. The more I listened, the more I realized that many people struggled with similar issues, and there were answers to these problems. It dawned on me that I had some responsibility for my life circumstances, and even if I hadn’t caused them, I was the one responsible for making things better.

I started the long trek uphill toward health. It began with the knowledge that I needed help. I didn’t know how to handle life very well. I didn’t have the right tools. It was like trying to ride uphill with only one speed.

I sought counseling and gained more tools:

*Boundaries

*Understanding what healthy relationships looked like

*Healing hurts from my past

*Growing closer to God

*Creating healthy friendships

*Taking responsibility for my decisions and actions

*Putting on my “big girl panties” (padded ones, of course)

After doing all this internal growth work, I found life to be a little easier. I still hit some hills, but my training has paid off and I can handle it. I have the tools I need now.

My hope is that I took the uphill path and trained hard, so in the later part of my life, I’ll be able to coast a little more as I approach Home.

This post written by Colorado Life Coach, Carrie O’Toole.