Apparently my new nickname is accident prone.  Over the past few months life’s thrown a few curveballs my way. I was in a car accident the end of August and received a dose of whiplash.  Then 4 weeks later I tore my right calf muscle running.  This crushed my dream of biking the Tip To Tip for Africa Race this fall.  Trust me I was devastated.

Training for the race was a job I took very seriously. Just thinking of accomplishing 273km of biking in 3 days is exhausting. During the month of July I tackled the Island trails as often as I could.  Rides were pushing 40, 50, 60 km at a time.  Then 70, 80, 90 km in the later season. My most memorable was mid August when I took on 100km in under 6 hours up western PEI.  It was 28 degrees and I tested out a hydration pack, drank all 2 liters that day. What a rush.

This summer I studied with a Buddhist group lead by the monks from the Montague Monosauri. Our classes were geared to make attendees embrace mindfulness and compassion towards every living being. It taught us how to practice virtuous deeds and consider your actions. These classes prepared me to dig deep, end attachments and look for the rainbow in all life’s situations.

Accidents and injuries not only hurt your physical body, battling with the emotions of feeling helpless were almost worse. Limping is not empowering, nor is walking on crutches sexy.  After the car accident I suffered some post traumatic shock from a previous accident I experienced 4 years ago. Unlocking those doors all over again hurt. Let’s call it a lesson in regression.

In these unfortunate situations, my losses were definitely a lesson. They taught me how much I’ve grow from the car accident 4 years ago.  Strength, determination, acceptance and hope.  Better yet, today my body feels like my best friend. The drive of being an athlete was encouraging and having an event to train for pushed me over the edge.  I traveled way out of my comfort zone and reached a peak performance level pre accident.  I knew I could complete that race, and in my mind I already had.  My body and mind were in complete unison. 

When life teaches you lessons see the rainbow in every situation.  It’s all about compassion. Connect with your body and practice a whole lotta self love. Stop to smell the roses. Honor your thoughts.  Earlier this week I found this floating on facebook and would like to share it with all of you.  I’m dedicating it to me.  Let's hope the rain stops soon. 

  If you’d like to learn more about Buddhism it is FREE to join the study group. Meetings are Thursday evenings at 7 pm above Splendid Essence ( Old Formosa Tea House) and Sundays at 2:30, top floor MacDougall Hall UPEI.