September 21st, 2015 | Uncategorized
Sometimes I find little life lessons disguised as ordinary moments. On my class residential trip to Castle Ward and Strangford last week, I happened to find one standing on a mountain bike in the woods. Eddie, mountain biker and adventurer extraordinaire, was explaining to me and my other mountain bike-novice classmates how not to wipe out and/or take a tumble down the rocky mountain pass. I was admittedly a little nervous about careening downhill on a piece of metal, so I was hanging onto his every word. I was looking at the intimidating path and imagining myself crashing into a tree on my bike George of the Jungle style.
The most valuable piece of advice that Eddie gave us in his spiel was to always look ahead down the next bend in the path and not at the rocks and roots directly in front of us. Focusing on the path’s obstacles would only distract us. Needless to say, the bike goes where our attention goes, and next thing you know, you’re running right into them!
His advice gave me confidence, and next thing I knew I was flying down the hill without worrying about every bump in the road. And biking down the rest of the trails, I couldn’t help but think that it’s not a bad way to approach not just the trail, but really any challenge one may face. Risks, fears, failures are all an inevitable part of life. In fact they’re not just a part of life, but they are a part of success. It can be really easy to be intimidated or discouraged by life’s shortcomings, but they don’t deserve our attention. Success is a state of mind, and getting hung up on life’s ‘rocks and roots’ or negativity will not get us to where we want to be in life, wherever it may be. So from now on, my eyes are where I want to be down the next bend, and not on the rocks and roots along the way.
Victory Scholar: Clare Sullivan
Present University: Ulster University
US League Partner: Patriot League
Club/Community Partner: Ulster Elks
Alma Mater: The College of the Holy Cross
Sponsored by: Teamwear Ireland
