Today marks a unique point in my life. Yesterday I saw my daughter and her husband off on a plane to fly overseas to begin their new life. I also left my job a few weeks back to pursue new avenues of my own. My son will be heading on his first full deployment in the Navy and will be away for quite a while soon.

My world, right now, is a varying terrain.

Now, riding adventure bikes I typically like a varying terrain as it makes the ride more interesting. Some smooth flat highway to eat up miles, some nice twisties to get the blood pumping, backroads and dirt roads to take me to places off the beaten path and maybe a fire trail or other trail to lead me to places more remote and unknown.

However, like most, I like my life to be a little less “terrain’ish” and a bit more straight and smooth. This is not to say that I do not like adventure and excitement in my life. I do…just maybe not quite this much.

This time is far more difficult on my wife. However, even when times get tough on her, she is my rock and helps me maintain my perspective.

No life is highway smooth. Every one is marked with many different variables that create terrain that goes from smooth and flat, to mountain top experiences to deep valleys of darkness. This is not only how our lives are marked it is how our lives mark us.

We are all the outcome of our experiences.

Sometimes, like now for me, these experiences come together at just the right moment to create a whole new terrain. I feel like I am in one such moment.

As I sit here today writing this, I am curious what my life might look like a year from now. Yes, I can simply go back and do what I have been doing or I can make it a time of pivotal change. And I feel that it is such a moment. I believe I am at a turning point where life can look vastly different in coming years.

If I can just move past the anxiety of not knowing what the terrain ahead holds.

It is like riding off on a trail and not having a clear picture of just where it might lead. It might be a smooth ride into a beautiful meadow, or it could end up heading through difficult terrain with deep washouts that threaten to throw me off and into the briers.

Thus, I have a choice on how to approach this time; with trepidation or with excitement.

Now, even when we choose excitement, it does not mean that we do not have terrifying moments of deep anxiety. I am not an adrenaline junkie. I do not want to climb a rock face without a rope and that is exactly how these moments can feel.

Franklin D Roosevelt said, “Courage is not the absence of fear, but rather the assessment that something else is more important than fear.”

I think that this is where I am; there is fear but I feel there is something out there that is more important than my fear. The tipping point is when we overcome the fear and tackle the tough terrain of our lives. This may take on many faces; it may be that we need to tackle weight or health terrain, addiction terrain, relationship terrain, work terrain, financial terrain…..and the list goes on and on and on. In fact you may be, like me, tackling various terrain types all a the same time.
Regardless of what it is, it feels like stepping off the ledge with no rope.

While riding in Arkansas, some time back, I decided to go visit a cabin that we stayed in years before that was off the beaten path. To get to it there was a steep road, deeply rutted with washout. As I started up the road I had to navigate these various washouts and while doing so I got pulled off onto the side of the hill. I was able to stop and assess my situation. I could turn and go downhill but that meant a difficult weight transition based upon how I was standing (my left foot could not touch the ground). Thus, throttling uphill seemed the best option. When I began a lot happened all at the same time, much too much to process quickly enough for my riding skill and I ended up dumping the bike.

Doesn’t sound too bad does it. Well, what is not contained in that paragraph is the fact that when I did my foot on the opposite peg shot me off the bike and down the hill. I had the sense to tuck and roll…once…twice, but on tuck-and-roll number three I realized I was picking up speed. The hill was pretty steep. I spread-eagled and came to a stop but not before tearing my knee to a bloody mess.

I was having to deal with too many types of terrain, bike weight transfer issues, throttle amount issues and balance all at the same time. The terrain won…but I learned some valuable riding lessons and my knee recovered.

This is true of life. We may get thrown. But as I told my kids throughout their lives, “The measure of a person is not how many times they get knocked down, its how many times they stand back up.”

I am not down right now. I have moments of feeling down, but I am in a transition. As I told my daughter before she left, trying to explain how we were feeling; This is a time of adventure for them and a time of transition for us. We are moving into a new phase of life, as are they, but we are having very different experiences.

You may be as well. I do not know what your life terrain looks like right now. However, even if you get stuck on a muddy road, there is always a way to get out. Consider the beauty, even of the roughest terrain.

The peaks may seem too tall, but even Everest has been summited.

The valleys may seem too low, but even Death Valley has a stark beauty.