It was a 450km cycling trip over 6 days, camping along the way. I accompanied the group of 6 high school students and 3 teachers for the first three days, my first extended cycling journey. Three days on the road (with some time driving the support van) gave me time to ponder the idea that most outcomes are decided in our heads.
On a long day’s ride, you start in the morning and keep going until you arrive, all the thoughts about ‘can I make it’ not meaning terribly much when the distance just needs to be covered. You tell yourself to keep pedalling, and you do. Deciding your own outcome.
It was an apt metaphor for the two years of the IB Diploma Program in which the student cyclists are involved. A long, hard, challenging road, with trials along the way, the outcome worth it in the end, if you keep telling yourself that you can make it. And keep listening.