I know who John Galt is.

This is a blog about personal celebration.  

The events that unfolded today inspired me.

In previous blogs I mentioned picking up random hobbies in hopes of fulfilling newfound free time. Allow me to elaborate on this concept a little further for it has much more depth than excessive free-time. 

About a year ago, like September '10, I decided to start pursuing minor personal goals. Things that I have always wanted to do but never had time to do. Some goals were on-going and some were not reoccurring and some were added as I went along. The list included scuba diving, flying alone, skydiving, getting my CHL, learning how to ride a motorcycle, ACL, living in a different city, so on and so forth. You get the idea. I'm still on this personal journey but I had to shine some light on my accomplishments of today.

Close to almost a year ago, I was gifted a book called Atlas Shrugged by my now boyfriend. After several minutes of conversations he recommended the book to me because he said I shared similarities with one of the main characters. Naturally, this book was added to my list of personal goals. I finished it today.

This book, for me, could be considered life altering. I recommend this book to people who understand the value of the mind, of one's own passion for living, for those who understand what value is, and the thing that makes value, well, valuable. Atlas Shrugged has made it's way to the top of my favorites. From the time that I started reading this book, my perspectives have evolved and they now have the capacity  to consider more factors; which in turn, has challenged me to check my premises. That is all I will say about this book. I do not wish to anchor anybody any further than I probably already have. If you're interested, just read it. Don't ask me who John Galt is; one should never live off the assumptions of others. Speaking of objectivism, the moment I finished Atlas Shrugged I drove to the library and checked out The Anthem. I'm a chapter in and excited. 

With the ending of one personal goal, I started a new one today. I joined a social cycling club. Yes, if you know me this may be slightly comical. My bike is slightly too big for me and watching me stop is like watching a train wreck; you know it's bad but you can't help but stare and feel sorry. The ride for today included a 45 minute to an hour bike ride around town, followed by a yoga class for about the same amount of time, ending with a ride to a local bar to become zen-fully intoxicated. 

Well, if you know Austin landscape, you know that we are DEFINITELY in hill country. Three and a half miles of flat land and you're sailing pretty. Three and half mile of some intense I-must be-training-for-a-triathlon- otherwise-why-the-heck-am-I-doing-this, not so much. However, I endured and was proud of myself. Then came the yoga. Easy peasy. It was nice to stretch again, goodness knows I've gone way too long without. It was everything a yoga class should be; a group of strangers meeting in the dark to do yoga outside. What more could you ask for? 

The difficult part came when it was time to go back. The group picked a bar to go to; however since I wanted to go home, I needed to figure out how to get back. Luckily I made a friend. The journey back home started off great. We exchanged the normal small talk, who are you, where do you come from, what is your purpose in life. You know, the usual. We then got trapped behind a red light which was followed by the biggest hill ever. Needless to say, the rest of the group made the light and was in front of us. I must say that I tried my very best to conquer that hill and am not ashamed to say that at the 2/3 mark I walked the bike the rest of the way.  I thought by the time I reached to top of the hill I would be reunited with the group. I was wrong. 

The group was nowhere to be found and here we were, two girls in the dark cycling in the 'ghetto' of Austin. Their less affluent area might be adorable when compared to other big cities ghetto's but it's still not the ideal place to be given the circumstances. We biked a couple more miles until I recognized a restaurant and we pulled in. She immediately called her husband and left. I called my friends to gather me as I ordered myself two giant slices of pizza and enjoyed their eclectic music selection.

Even though I was dropped on a 'no drop' ride, I look forward to next Tuesday's ride.

I wonder what personal accomplishments this time next year will bring.

Until next time,

RTIII