It's funny how doing something so simple can make you reflect on your own personality.  Balance... something I often lack.  Balance is crucial in so many of the things I enjoy.  As I was reminded today, balance over your feet keeps you from falling, and lets you use your legs instead of your arms when you climb.  Balance on skis is something I finally got down this winter... mostly.  Balance on a wakeboard is something you all saw me try to develop last year.  Balance on a bike is obviously crucial to staying up, but even lacking a little balance is shown when you try to take a corner tight.  Anyone can have balance going straight... but trying to negotiate that tight turn you weren't expecting takes something extra... something I'm still trying to get down.  Balance in the swim allows you to flow more naturally through the water so you use less energy.

Balance.  It comes with patience.  Normally I am abundantly patient.  Really I am... whether you believe it or not.  It's why my lack of balance is often so frustrating.  I know that when I'm off balance is also when I'm not thinking things through, hurrying my decisions, and forcing things to go as I imagined they could, instead of following how things are actually going in front of me.

But when you finally do find it... when you balance yourself... I know of no greater peace that I have experienced.  Feeling the hum of the road and the wind across my face on a bike when everything is clicking.  Cutting across a wake behind a speeding boat brings a strange piece and sense of power under complete control.  Stopping on a ski trail in the middle of a snow covered park while the cold wind howls and hits your face.  Standing at the top of Gibraltar after a long climb, turning your head and seeing a sunset fall over the mountain side.

I'm out of balance, and am searching to find it again.