"No." is a complete sentence. It is short and simple but not easy to say when you're a people pleaser. I've always cared more than I should about what others think, so I shocked myself when I said "No" to someone at the gym.
As 2025 approaches, I reflect on how my experiences, both highs and lows, have shaped the past year. Since riding a bicycle has become a bigger part of my life and is one of my favorite things to do my year-end reflections gravitate to this activity with my cycling year in review.
Truth and love go hand-in-hand. “Truth without love is like a sledgehammer and love without truth is like syrup.” This quote is from Father Mike Schmitz of the Bible in a Year podcast (Day 357).
A friend asked if I manifested my relationship with my husband, Alex. I believe I did. Previous relationships and "situationships" left me confused and doubting myself. Those experiences helped me be clear about what I wanted to attract. I prayed for clarity about what I truly wanted so I could manifest it, and I asked God for discernment and the courage to walk away if it wasn't aligned.
Being from New York, it's funny how I hadn't heard about the TD Five Boro Bike Tour until I moved to Cincinnati. Maybe it wasn't on my radar because I didn’t ride a bike then. Even so, with thousands of riders (this year had over 32,000) and the roads closed to traffic, I'm surprised I didn't know about it sooner.