{"id":51,"date":"2018-08-05T09:05:25","date_gmt":"2018-08-05T13:05:25","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.standingonfaith.blog\/?p=51"},"modified":"2018-08-05T21:51:22","modified_gmt":"2018-08-06T01:51:22","slug":"learning-peace-circumstances","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.standingonfaith.blog\/learning-peace-circumstances\/","title":{"rendered":"Learning to be at Peace in All Circumstances"},"content":{"rendered":"

Yesterday I rode in my 7th<\/sup>charity bike ride for the National MS Society.\u00a0Yesterday was the first time I didn\u2019t finish.\u00a0 I could easily be very upset about this. \u00a0I am disappointed I didn\u2019t cross the finish line, but I am learning to be at peace no matter what life brings my way.<\/p>\n

The day before the ride I had POTS symptoms most of the day.\u00a0 When I don\u2019t feel good I often have a hard time sleeping.\u00a0 Add that to the excitement of the ride, then anxiety about not being able to fall asleep, and it\u2019s a recipe for disaster.\u00a0 Four hours of sleep the night before I planned to ride 100 miles.<\/p>\n

Then came the ride.\u00a0 Nearly all of the first 10 miles were rolling hills. \u00a0There are many things I have to do to manage my POTS.\u00a0 One of those things is to exercise regularly but at a moderate level as much as possible.\u00a0 Biking is good for my POTS but not when hills are involved.\u00a0 I pushed through the hills and I pushed for 50 more miles.\u00a0 The last 35 were painful\u2026literally.\u00a0 I fought for every one of those miles.<\/p>\n

Then came the decision.\u00a0 I had to decide whether or not I was going to keep going.\u00a0 When you\u2019re biking long distances on country roads you have a lot of time to think.\u00a0 For miles I thought about whether or not I should stop.\u00a0 What does it mean to me to cross the finish line?\u00a0 Why am I doing this?\u00a0 What is most important?<\/p>\n

It was a decision I didn\u2019t think I would make.\u00a0 I didn\u2019t think I would not finish what I started.\u00a0 But it was the right decision.\u00a0 It was unsafe for me to be on the road any more.\u00a0 One wrong decision could have had major consequences.\u00a0 The answer to the question of what mattered most was that both my riding partner and I got home safely.\u00a0 I knew it was the right decision when sitting in Chipotle an hour and a half after I stopped riding and my heart rate was 115.\u00a0 I was short of breath and too fatigued to even eat.<\/p>\n

I am disappointed my body didn\u2019t cooperate with me.\u00a0 But POTS is part of who I am.\u00a0 Over the last few years I learned to appreciate my POTS.\u00a0It has made me stronger than I ever was before.\u00a0 I often don\u2019t feel stronger physically, but in actuality I am stronger both physically and mentally. \u00a0I am at peace with POTS. I am at peace with 60 hard fought miles despite finishing short of my goal.<\/p>\n

Sometimes life does not always go as planned.\u00a0 You feel like you haven\u2019t crossed the finish line.\u00a0 You feel like your race has too many hills — too many obstacles. \u00a0You feel like someone put a wall in front of you that you can\u2019t get around.\u00a0 You feel like you have heavy weights dragging you down making every step a challenge.\u00a0 You feel like you have made a major wrong turn and are way off course.<\/p>\n

Those are the times that you have to dig deep and do your very best.\u00a0As long as you know you have done your best on any given day, then work on being at peace no matter what the outcome or circumstance. \u00a0Sometimes you\u2019ll manage to cross the finish line without a drop of sweat.\u00a0 Sometimes you\u2019ll have to kick and scream just to make it one mile down the road. \u00a0In any case, do your best, focus on what is most important at the time, and be at peace in all circumstances.<\/p>\n

Enjoy the ride called life\u2026no matter what comes your way!<\/strong><\/p>\n

_________________________________________<\/p>\n

A special thank you to Masters Jill Miller & Alan Miller of J.R. Miller Martial Arts in Olmsted Township, Ohio for helping me gain this perspective!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Yesterday I rode in my 7thcharity bike ride for the National MS Society.\u00a0Yesterday was the first time I didn\u2019t finish.\u00a0 I could easily be very upset about this. \u00a0I am…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","enabled":false}}},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"yoast_head":"\nLearning to be at Peace in All Circumstances - Standing on Faith<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.standingonfaith.blog\/learning-peace-circumstances\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Learning to be at Peace in All Circumstances - Standing on Faith\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Yesterday I rode in my 7thcharity bike ride for the National MS Society.\u00a0Yesterday was the first time I didn\u2019t finish.\u00a0 I could easily be very upset about this. \u00a0I am...\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.standingonfaith.blog\/learning-peace-circumstances\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Standing on Faith\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2018-08-05T13:05:25+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2018-08-06T01:51:22+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"standingonfaith\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"standingonfaith\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.standingonfaith.blog\/learning-peace-circumstances\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.standingonfaith.blog\/learning-peace-circumstances\/\",\"name\":\"Learning to be at Peace in All Circumstances - Standing on Faith\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.standingonfaith.blog\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2018-08-05T13:05:25+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2018-08-06T01:51:22+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.standingonfaith.blog\/#\/schema\/person\/ba707f4388301b021e0da4b17d14c305\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.standingonfaith.blog\/learning-peace-circumstances\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.standingonfaith.blog\/learning-peace-circumstances\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.standingonfaith.blog\/learning-peace-circumstances\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.standingonfaith.blog\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Learning to be at Peace in All Circumstances\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.standingonfaith.blog\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.standingonfaith.blog\/\",\"name\":\"Standing on Faith\",\"description\":\"Learning to live WITHOUT POTS\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.standingonfaith.blog\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":\"required name=search_term_string\"}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.standingonfaith.blog\/#\/schema\/person\/ba707f4388301b021e0da4b17d14c305\",\"name\":\"standingonfaith\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.standingonfaith.blog\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/3121b7b6e4c7e666cea045610a1d35a3?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/3121b7b6e4c7e666cea045610a1d35a3?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"standingonfaith\"},\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.standingonfaith.blog\/author\/standingonfaith_az34nj\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Learning to be at Peace in All Circumstances - Standing on Faith","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.standingonfaith.blog\/learning-peace-circumstances\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Learning to be at Peace in All Circumstances - Standing on Faith","og_description":"Yesterday I rode in my 7thcharity bike ride for the National MS Society.\u00a0Yesterday was the first time I didn\u2019t finish.\u00a0 I could easily be very upset about this. \u00a0I am...","og_url":"https:\/\/www.standingonfaith.blog\/learning-peace-circumstances\/","og_site_name":"Standing on Faith","article_published_time":"2018-08-05T13:05:25+00:00","article_modified_time":"2018-08-06T01:51:22+00:00","author":"standingonfaith","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"standingonfaith","Est. reading time":"3 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.standingonfaith.blog\/learning-peace-circumstances\/","url":"https:\/\/www.standingonfaith.blog\/learning-peace-circumstances\/","name":"Learning to be at Peace in All Circumstances - Standing on Faith","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.standingonfaith.blog\/#website"},"datePublished":"2018-08-05T13:05:25+00:00","dateModified":"2018-08-06T01:51:22+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.standingonfaith.blog\/#\/schema\/person\/ba707f4388301b021e0da4b17d14c305"},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.standingonfaith.blog\/learning-peace-circumstances\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.standingonfaith.blog\/learning-peace-circumstances\/"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.standingonfaith.blog\/learning-peace-circumstances\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.standingonfaith.blog\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Learning to be at Peace in All Circumstances"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.standingonfaith.blog\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.standingonfaith.blog\/","name":"Standing on Faith","description":"Learning to live WITHOUT POTS","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.standingonfaith.blog\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.standingonfaith.blog\/#\/schema\/person\/ba707f4388301b021e0da4b17d14c305","name":"standingonfaith","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.standingonfaith.blog\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/3121b7b6e4c7e666cea045610a1d35a3?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/3121b7b6e4c7e666cea045610a1d35a3?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"standingonfaith"},"url":"https:\/\/www.standingonfaith.blog\/author\/standingonfaith_az34nj\/"}]}},"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p9FZX3-P","jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.standingonfaith.blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/51"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.standingonfaith.blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.standingonfaith.blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.standingonfaith.blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.standingonfaith.blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=51"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/www.standingonfaith.blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/51\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":62,"href":"https:\/\/www.standingonfaith.blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/51\/revisions\/62"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.standingonfaith.blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=51"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.standingonfaith.blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=51"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.standingonfaith.blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=51"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}