It was a banner year. It sucked, but maybe that’s why a lot of the things that stuck out, stuck out as they did. A lot happened in the year, but not as much as could have happened if we hadn’t been locked up off-and-on for parts of it. But overall, it wasn’t too bad.
Of course, a big highlight is that I put in a lot of miles on the bike. I can attribute that in part to a couple of things. Number one — setting the goal of 5,000 miles. I wrote about the importance of setting goals a couple of times during the year, and if you can have the discipline to do them, they work. I think I can be a real champ when it comes to New Year’s resolutions for this simple reason — I see it as a goal and I go for it. And I don’t make stupid or frivolous goals either. Being realistic is important.
The second thing to which I attribute those miles is related to another highlight of the year — I was 25-30 pounds lighter for most of the season compared to 2020 (more on that later). And that helped me with the third thing: I was able to go farther and climb more (and see a whole lot more) — and I did. I did 70+ miles just about every weekend, and topped 100 twice (I’d only done 100 once before in my life about 20 years ago). I did two of the biggest climbs in the area twice. I was unintimidated.
And yeah, a lot of that was because of that weight loss. And that’s another one of the highlights of 2021, because I not only lost 30 pounds, I learned something along the way. After a 10-day smoothie cleanse, I adjusted my diet and stuck to it (well, until recently, but I am making allowances for the holiday season, and am planning another 10-day cleanse shortly, after which I’ll lay off the fried chicken again). It was a year of feeling better in those respects. Lighter. More energetic. Able to enjoy things a bit more.
But of course, the highlight of the year…and I don’t write too much about it here…was the birth of my grandson, Nathan in February. He’s looking to be quite the kid, and of course I’m looking forward to meeting him sometime in 2022. We’ve just gotta clear a few more Greek letters…
2021 did have a couple of rough spots too, but you know what? I’m not going to get into that right now. No need. Just suffice it to say that I learned a lot about prayer (and wrote about it too), and there are some people for whom I’m praying diligently, regularly, and quite fervently. And it helps.
So, I hope you all had a decent 2021 too, with plenty of highlights. But I have a feeling 2022 is going to be an incredible year. I’ll throw that prayer in for you all once it gets here in a few hours. Give you all a head start…
Happy new year. Prayers for you, too