Faith And Law Of Attraction At Work In The Tour De France


by Zoe Routh - Date: 2007-07-24 - Word Count: 887 Share This!

Watching those awful stacks as riders come flying off their bikes sets my knees quivering. Ouch! Cycling up and down mountains is seriously risky stuff. Stuart O'Grady is in hospital with fractured limbs and a punctured lung; Robbie McEwen pulled out after he dislocated his collarbone on a corner wipe out. Guys have died on a Tour de France quest. A simple slip, rubber hitting the bumps on the road, and it's all over.

Lance Armstrong once said, "If you knew you were going to fall, you'd never get on the bike." And he fell too. Lots of times. Got bloody and broken to boot.

So how do they do it? How do those riders get on their bike every day and hurtle themselves up and down slopes at stomach-turning speeds? Experience? Confidence? Defiance? Stupidity?

Nope. I reckon it's faith. Not the pray to God kind of faith, though I am certain there are plenty of them who do that too, but the kind of faith that is an inner knowing and trust. It's a kind of letting go, being present, experiential kind of faith.

I tried it out myself not long back, during the warmer weather. I rode my bike to the gym which has a hair-curling hill just outside my front door. I launched off the top and flew downwards floating effortlessly with the wind whipping my face. I was soaring! Exhilarating! Magic!

Just me and a bucket of bolts and rickety wheels that could come off at any minute or kick sideways on a rock or collapse in a heap if smashed by a car appearing suddenly at an intersection …

All right, I was scared.

If you've ever ridden your own bike down a hill, you know that feeling of terror in your bones.

If you've ever started to wonder 'what if…' as the wheels spun under you, then you know what it is like to lose faith and ruin the ride. "What if a car pops out of nowhere? What if I hit a rock and go head over the handlebars? What if the brakes fail and I smash in to the sidewalk and crack my skull open?" As soon as you let the doubt in, the fear takes over. The brakes come on, and you have a thousand images of pain and blood splattered on the windscreen of your mind. Ugh. Not so fun anymore.

How do those Tour de France guys deal with it? They trust. They let go of the fear.

Ok, great, but how do you do that? How do you trust and how do you let go of fear? I'll tell you one thing; you don't develop trust by sitting on the sidewalk. You've got to get on your bike, push off, and feel good. Repeat. Repeat again. Little by little, you start to trust you can do it. You get the feeling of success. You start to know in your bones that you can take risks and be ok. Soon the thrill supersedes the fear. The risks are still there, you know they are still there, but you decide in a crucial moment of faith, that the ride is worth the risk.

So I pulled out the bike again and had a conversation with myself (yes -I do that sometimes!) that went something like this:

"Ok here's the deal. I love riding my bike. I love the feeling of freedom I get cruising along. This fear thing is starting to ruin a really cool buzz. So this is what I've decided: I'm not going to worry about the wheels falling off, or a rock jumping out of the gutter, or a dog leaping in my way. I'm going to take precautions, be mindful and aware, but darn it - I'm going to love that ride!"

When I focus on the ride, the freedom, the exhilaration, I'm not focussing on 'what if I stack on the next corner.' Focussing on 'what if I stack' is a way of magnetising chances of a crash. Obsessing over crashing just makes you more inclined to crash.

Those Tour de France cyclists may stack, but the ride is always worth it. That's what gets them back on the bike.

Is there a rationale to faith? Not really. It's a choice. You know that there are risks when you get on your bike, or start a business, or enter in to a relationship. All sorts of painful scenarios might play out. All sorts of good stuff may happen too. The choice you have is this: feel good or feel fearful. That's it. You decide.

You just can't control all the variables. So you might as well as feel good about what you're doing.

It's not a 'blind' faith kind of experience. I don't advocate leaving your helmet at home, or riding at night without a light. Having faith does not make you immortal. Faith is all about being mindful and responding in the present, rather than anticipating a disastrous future.

It's the same kind of faith choice you need to make it when living in to the Law of Attraction. You make plans, set a goal, and enjoy the ride. Don't get caught up in all the 'what if' rubbish that can pollute your mind.

Trust your instincts, focus on what you want, let go of fear, and woohooo!

Yeah, that's the ride I'm talking about!

Related Tags: faith, law of attraction, manifestation, tour de france

Zoë Routh is the Head Coach at Inner Compass. She has paddled 30 weeks by canoe in northwest Ontario, run 6 marathons, hiked hundreds of kilometres in Australia's outback, bellydanced at various festivals, written a book, Absolute Productivity, survived cancer, married a fair dinkum Aussie bloke, and wrestled a 6 meter crocodile. It's all true, except for the crocodile part. Sign up for more inspiration and your free Attraction Checklist in Compass Bearings at www.innercompass.com.au.

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