How many times have we all set goals only to set our sights on the outcome instead of the process? I know that I have done it in the past even during a race by aiming for a specific time or speed that I want to finish in (the end product), instead of looking at the process during the race. Most often than not I fail at reaching that certain time or speed.

It’s amazing how dreams can become goals and goals can become reality if you put the hard work in and believe in yourself! 1968 – 7 years old I watched my first Olympics.

Lately, I have noticed how noisy the world is, it never seems to stop! The other day I was trying to think of the last time I just sat in silence and to be honest I don’t remember. To sit with nothingness, no phone, no radio, no music, no television, no computer, no sound at all.

This past weekend the 2021 Para Cycling Road World Championships were held at the Circuito Estoril in Cascais, Portugal. On my vision board that I have in my office are the words ‘Gold – World Championships – Portugal June 9-13, 2021, in big bold letters. Little did I know when I put them there that a pandemic would hit the world!

We all do it, talk to ourselves. But think about it, are you critical or positive to yourself? I would hazard to say that we are all much more critical of ourselves than positive. How many times have you thought or said to yourself you wished your stomach was flatter, or you were skinner or in better shape?

We all experience frustrating times in life and especially in the last 15 months during this pandemic. We all thought that once we got through lockdown last year that life as we know it would return to normal. Well now as us Victorians are into our 4th lockdown the frustration is building again.

How many times have we hung on to something so tight that we never wanted to let it go? Or held back on trying something new due to fear of failure, embarrassment or rejection? The protective walls that we build around ourselves can sometimes be stifling but they can also be useful during particularly difficult times which create a safe environment where we can heal.

None of us likes to be wrong or make mistakes! I know that I hate it, but why do we feel like it is the worst thing? Being wrong or making a mistake can leave us feeling unworthy or less valuable. We think people are always watching and seeing our mistakes. But sometimes we are the only one that really notices our mistakes because the rest of the world is more worried about themselves.

I don’t know about the rest of you but lately it seems that everyone is angry! I have had people, mostly women, yelling at me on my trike. One woman became angry because I rang my bell to let her know I was there as she opened her car door. I thought I was just being safe and polite.

I often get questions after a talk about how I stay so positive. Well I have always believed that it is better to be positive than negative. That doesn’t mean that I don’t have my negative times, of course I do, but I really don’t like who I am when I am negative. I have found over the years that no one ever likes hanging around with someone who is constantly negative.

So for about a year now I have tried to put out a blog each week and I have been very diligent in doing it on a Sunday afternoon. Yesterday was Sunday and I had the typical Sunday for me, a day off from training, some laundry and a bit of a tidy around the house. I must say it was a good day for it because it was cold, wet and windy!

How many really good friends do you have in your life? I am one of the lucky ones that I actually need my two hands to count the number of true friends I have. Those friends who would stand by you no matter what and who accept you for who you are, not who they think you should be, warts and all!