My dad came to visit for Thanksgiving, leaving mom and my brothers behind in Lower Michigan. This picture is mostly for them so they can see what they missed.

Thanksgiving is something many try to force on a national holiday by making lists. Thanksgiving is something I don’t necessarily feel on the holiday, itself, but it is worth reflecting on those times I’ve felt true, deep gratitude, and how those occasions came to be.

I spent the last decade of my life fighting and conquering clinical depression, acquiring a degree, losing a job, and going back to school. On a smaller and more present time-scale, I find myself continually fighting the financial pressures of being a non-traditional student, trying to keep my credit okay, struggling for hours at work, struggling to keep my grades up, preparing adequately for my Medical College Admission Test (MCAT), preparing for my application for Michigan State’s College of Human Medicine, and most recently, a car accident temporarily leaving me without a vehicle. It has been a very difficult ten years and the next ten years promise to be equally demanding. I’d be lying if I said that I never found myself sometimes lying awake at night with a mad whirlwind of worries clouding my thoughts.

Over the last ten years, I have even found myself questioning my religion, Catholicism, researching other religions, researching my own religion, and finding that I am in the right place. I found out what my religion is not: a hierarchy of old guys culminating in a political front; and what my religion is: regular people, like myself, gathering together and offering support, love, and words of hope. I’ve had the great pleasure of having this awesome support system when my life was at its lowest. Someone else has already experienced what I have experienced, and they can give me hope so I can get past my current worries and move onto a different set of worries. The truth is, whether it be bad grades in school, credit woes, job loss, divorce, or even cancer, we are all afflicted with our own problems. Any problem may be an easy obstacle for one person and devastating for another, and that is okay. We are all unique and we deal with things in different ways.

I tend to feed my passion with books. When I got into horses, I bought books. When I got into yoga, I bought books. When I got into cycling, I bought books. When I got into my religion, I bought books. I wanted to learn more about why Catholics did what they did, and I wanted to know more about the philosophical and spiritual aspects. I learned amazing things, including one that is emphasized not only by some very spiritual Catholic writers, but by Eastern religions as well: live in the now.

I’ve spent the last three years mountain biking in the Keweenaw Peninsula. I’ve journeyed to Lower Michigan to check out some trails there, and I’ve gone to Fruita, Colorado and Moab, Utah to see what all the fuss was about. Nothing matches the satisfaction I get from having the incredible rush of gratitude to God for what I am doing right now. That rush of gratitude doesn’t always occur while riding, but it is almost inevitable when the sun is beating down on me and I take in spectacular views. The world opens up, I feel the kiss of the sun, the pat of the wind on my shoulder, and I smile. I have this odd habit of randomly smiling and giggling in the middle of a ride, and I’m usually by myself when this happens.

The rush of gratitude is amazing. I can’t adequately describe the rush of excitement my body feels and how my heart does flips. I look up. I smile. I thank God. I don’t thank Him for anything in particular. I just thank Him. I am happy. That is enough. That is the ultimate prayer. All of my worries are gone and I am happy. The stress has been eradicated from my body. I have new hope.

It is kind of odd how cycling and religion can be brought together, but the fact is that God wants us to live. It is no surprise that people who allow themselves to live experience the greatest of life’s lessons and the greatest spiritual pleasures. Living in the now fits into both of those categories and is an admirable achievement. It allows one to experience the happiness of little, everyday things, while keeping the mind fresh, so that inevitable obstacles can be handled with less pain and devastation. While I am thankful for many people, things, and experiences – good or bad – in my life, today, I am thankful simply for the experience of being in the now.