Life's elixir

Last Friday my brother-in-law was in town from Chicago and we wanted to go on a bike ride.  I took him on my ~8 mile.  route Here is what he wrote to his siblings after our ride: 

“Annie invited me biking today. I figured what the hey, I can putter up and down their street for 30 minutes then wade into Bobby's beer supply. Nearly two hours later I am in "Laura's Room" (their front deck) bathed in sweat with my heart still at about 160 bpm. (And, yes, in Bobby's beer supply.) Annie does 8.8 miles! Highways! Monster hills! It was exhilarating and terrifying. The cars fear her more than she fears the cars. I don't care how courageous you thought Annie was, you have no idea until you have tried to keep up with her on this trek.”  While on this ride, it occurred to me that there was no place on the planet I would rather be for those 2 hours. Living in the moment is very important for those recovering from stroke. Don’t dwell too much in what you can’t do but what you can do don’t focus too much on what others can do; enjoy what you can do and keep pushing the envelope.   My recommendation is if you don’t have some form of exercise you can do, you need to get one and in a hurry.  In my opinion, it is life’s elixir, e. g. it cures anything that ails you. Or at a minimum takes your mind off of it.