The Open Door

Back pain, sometimes spasms seeming coming from out of nowhere, Now with  5 days of this under my belt,  I am sick of it. But there is a lesson here even in bothersome back pains if one pays attention.   When I got through feeling sorry for myself because I  just didn't feel perfect, I got to realize how many people must live in pain like this and much worse daily; moment to moment with not much hope of relief.   And in this realization, I got to feeling a bit ashamed.  I still have health and strength enough to be training, riding, running.  Yesterday, I did a good swim in open water.  Sometimes in our self-absorption, we seem to see life through a keyhole.  When we stop lowering ourselves to look through our keyhole at life, we can stand firmly and open the door.  We can see life in its totality and our place in it through the open door.