~First, I'd better hurry up and get a new list started, remembering the advice of a dear friend who once told me "Peggy, you can't "kick" an empty bucket.
~Second, surely something on that list ought to involve continuing to work on not taking this life for granted.
You know, I realized last night as I was thinking about all of the fun I had yesterday on my day off from teaching, that I have prayed more while riding my bike in the last 2 weeks than I EVER did before my accident happened last August. The day that I wrecked, now 9 months ago, my odometer read 1,500 miles. All of those miles had been ridden in the course of the 5 months previous. And I'm going to tell you right now, that I can't recall ANY serious visits with God during most of those miles which averaged about 300 a month.
Oh yeah there were several days, especially during the 4 days that I was on the Bike Across Kansas in June, that we had several visits with one another. There were more than a couple of times then that things got a little serious. One more very steep hill to climb, 25 mile per hour winds constantly out of the south, packs of riders way too bunched up together, and yet one more car that would speed by with little concern to the 800 cyclists travelling ahead. And the day I had to drop out because of near sunstroke, the same prayer over and over "God, just get me home please, I don't want to die out here!" (ok, I wasn't going to die out there but it sure seemed like it!) God knew.
Since returning to riding, now 2 weeks and 63 miles ago, I believe I have prayed enough to write a book for cyclists to use for at LEAST a day or two. I never thought I would have to ask for courage enough to put my foot into the toe clip of a bike and make the very first push down of the ride, but I sure did! I used to NEVER think about giving thanks for making it up the very "NOT steep" hill on the bike trail, but I do now. And since all this happened, I have found myself expressing my gratitude for things that used to be among the most mundane of my ride.....no flat tires, no dogs chasing me, no pedestrians or other vehicles meeting me in a near-collision place along the route. And the list could go on and on.......
I hope to continue to do better in having "an attitude of gratitude" for every blessing, every wonderful thing that I have in this life. It's not always easy, especially this morning. When my eyes popped awake at 3:45 a.m., 45 minutes ahead of my 4:30 alarm, it was sure tempting to start my day off by moaning and groaning, griping about losing that last 3/4 hour of sleep. But hey, at LEAST I woke up...something really special must be waiting for me this day. Time to go out and find it! Have a great Friday, April 27th, 2012 and all things considered my friends, it is a great to be alive in! Don't waste a minute of it......
"Miller Bucket List"-2012
1. To travel to Maine and see my very first lighthouse.
2. To learn how to sew something for the very first time.
3. To power parachute once again.
4. To canoe down the Ark River on an Indian summer day in the fall.
5. To continue to meet all of my FB friends in person and buy them something to drink and talk about life for a while.
6. To make a difference somehow in my new community of Valley Center.
7. To ride my bike in the 20-mile Sterling 4th of July Bike Hike this summer.
8. To reconnect with as many former students as I can to see how life is going for them now.
9. To meet my FB friend, Patti, for the first time.
10. To NEVER let my bucket go empty-You cannot kick a full bucket!
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