June 6, 2025

I didn't start the day thinking it would be anything special. I actually woke up bracing myself with a "here we go again" attitude - ready to face it, but knowing it would certainly be another challenge. However, I’ll always remember this stretch of road as the place where I had one of my most sacred experiences.

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I started with the following half-hearted intentions:

I. What fire will I carry into this day?

Appreciation

II. What truth will kindle within me, no matter the wind or weather?

That my Father in Heaven is real and loves me.

III. What shadows may rise to test me?

Weariness

IV. What vow do I make to this road?

I will remember my cadence. I will remember “I felt strong”.

V. What sign shall remind me of all I've been learning?

Interesting cloud formations

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Day 5 - Stokmarknes to Sandsletta Cabins

Pickles don't spoil, do they?

One of the snacks I brought from Arizona was a ziplock bag with a couple of dill gherkins. I had eaten one several days ago, and finally decided to eat the second before heading to breakfast. We found some friends to sit by at the morning buffet, and soon I was feeling queasy.

After breakfast, we gathered with the group in a small business center just off the hotel lobby for our morning pow wow. But within 45 minutes, I found myself in the nearby restroom, throwing up. One of the other riders had been sick the day before, but we hadn’t spent much time close enough to share germs. So I chose to blame the pickle—because if that was the culprit, then maybe getting sick once would be the end of it.

The thought, ‘What if you feel like this all day?’ surfaced briefly, but I gave it no power. I trusted I’d recover quickly and be on my way. I may have been in the bathroom for an hour. Knowing the group would move on without me, I made peace with riding alone and committed to going at whatever pace my body required.

With my stomach empty, I gathered myself and returned to the lobby feeling grateful that it had happened after a good night’s rest and before the day's departure. At least I had facilities! But with no appetite nor food in my belly, I wondered if I'd have the strength to ride the 45 miles.

The group had indeed left while I was still in the restroom. But when I came out, Monica was waiting. What an angel she was the whole trek. Jenn Garrett was still outside the hotel and graciously let me use some of her peppermint oil to help me feel fresh and ward off any additional queasiness.

As we hit the road, I mentally tried to reconnect with earlier intentions that had gotten me through previous days, but they weren’t really taking root. 

The first benchmark would be another ferry, but this time it was 16 miles away. It ran every 90 minutes, so there wasn’t a huge urgency to get there at a certain time, but I still had trouble shaking the anxiety around getting there soon enough for the next one. I knew that the longer we took, the more adverse weather we’d likely have to deal with later.

Immediately I found myself battling the hills again, like I had forgotten how to enjoy them or feel strong through them. The songs “Que Sera Sera” and “Sing Your Way Home” to keep a cadence didn’t hold the same power as before, either.

This feeling (of grasping for some idea to help) reminded me of our life during the great recession, when the goal achievement strategies that had worked so well before had stopped working, as if the laws of success had been suspended. It had forced us to seek greater wisdom and understanding (ultimately leading to the The Jackrabbit Factor sequel, Portal to Genius) so I began to wonder what added insight would be in store for me today.

Balance?

Did I need to learn something about balance? I wondered as I passed a giant cairn of boulders in someone's back yard.

Still not feeling enlightened, I went back to counting rotations to get myself up each hill. Seeing one ahead, I would guess how many rotations of the pedals it would take, and then just put my head down and start counting, all the while, longing to anchor myself to some other powerful theme or vision for the day. Despite writing my intentions back at the hotel (that my focus would be appreciation, that I would remember to keep a cadence and feel strong, and that my sign to remind me of my intentions would be interesting cloud formations), I still wasn’t feeling empowered.

I tried setting an intention to make it to the 11:10 am ferry - though it didn’t look likely. A quality decision with a clear vision and expectation usually gives me creative power, attracts resources, and rallies unseen help, so I hoped this one might give me some added motivation, strength and speed.

But when I looked at my watch at 11:11, we were still 5 miles away.

What is wrong with me??

At this point, we just hoped to make it to the 12:40 ferry, not knowing how hilly the last stretch would be. My average was still only 8mph.

We caught up to Gaylene who was stopped for a mechanical. Layne wasn’t far behind her and stopped to help. Jenn had some knee trouble and spent a little time in the sag van. Dave Fielding had held back to find a bike to rent, since his derailleur was deemed broken beyond repair, so we saw him along the route, too.

Despite our delayed departure, today was more social than expected.

Gratefully we did make it to the next ferry, and discovered that a lot of our friends had missed the 11:10 as well. 

Today's ferry would be shorter than our previous rides at only 25 minutes, so I used the brief but quiet passage to figure out what my real focus or intention would be to get me through the rest of the day. It almost felt like my day had hadn’t even started yet because I was still feeling so aimless. Ironically, by the time we got off that boat, we were already 20 miles into the ride with only 25 left to go.

Now that I think about it, I was still making progress, clocking miles and moving forward, despite feeling aimless. Maybe life is that way, too. Maybe we don't need to worry so much if we haven't identified our purpose or beacon in the fog. If we will just keep rolling, we'll figure it out at the right time.

This would prove to be the case for me on today's ride.

The first hill after the ferry was long, and I ended up walking most of it. Once the road leveled out, rain clouds gathered overhead and began to gently wash our path.

Check out the sod on the roof!

In Search of Bliss

As I continued looking for a purpose to define my day, the word “bliss” eventually came to mind, so I declared to Monica "I'm looking to feel BLISS today." It was something of a vague focus, but I felt like it would be enough for the time being. 

Interesting cloud formations reminded me to stay strong and keep going.

What about a strategy?

With my purpose identified (to experience bliss), I was still trying to figure out what my strategy for the hills should be.

• Do I choose to think strong?
• Pick a cadence and just work to keep it?
• Count how many rotations I think it will require?
• Think about how it’s making me stronger?
• Imagine the elements cheering me on and being proud of me?

I couldn’t seem to connect with any of the strategies that had worked before. But then I felt God speak to my soul... 

“What if you thought nothing?”

Wait a minute... “Like, what if I don't use any strategies?”

Empty and Meaningless

The suggestion stirred a principle I’d long since tucked away—a truth God knew was already archived in the back of my mind. It was something I learned at a seminar years ago, that “life is empty and meaningless". This does NOT mean that life is without purpose. It simply means that life's mountains just ARE, or a situation just IS. Events and experiences are entirely empty of meaning. They're not hard, difficult, or scary, they're just there. Circumstances and events only have meaning after we impose meaning on them. But we usually assign meaning so quickly and automatically that we don't even realize we're doing it. We think the meaning of an experience is always inherent, but it isn't. 

To understand what happened next, I should probably first explain how I came to understand the concept of "empty and meaningless".

The seminar segment began with the speaker making an outlandish promise that he could make any problem disappear, and that, if we paid close attention, by the end of the session, anything we were presently struggling with would vanish. Of course, he had our attention.

And then, through a strategically crafted line of questioning, he brilliantly helped us recognize the source of our suffering, not "out there" in the problem that vexed us, but "over here" inside our own minds and the way we thought about it. Systematically, he deconstructed the stories and beliefs we had built to justify, defend, and protect ourselves, and all that remained was pure truth.

The truth is, we ARE okay, right here, right now, in this moment. The truth is, we have all we need to do the next right thing. The truth is, we are loved and supported beyond comprehension. The truth is, our Heavenly Father knows what we need and has provided a way for us to receive it all. But our unchecked thoughts create a self-imposed prison that prevents us from seeing the truth and experiencing the life, love, solutions and support He has available to carry us through anything. Too often the real answer remains hidden because we're too stubborn to consider that there may be something we don't already know. 

Humans are meaning-making machines who constantly create stories around bare facts. Once we realize this, and stop making our experiences always mean something, we begin moving through those stretchy experiences with less angst, and start enjoying the beauty and serenity of divine trust. 

Baggage comes from making "meaningless" events mean something. Where there is no meaning assigned, there is no baggage. It is within our control (and indeed, it is our responsibility) to carefully manage the meaning we assign to any given circumstance. 

This not an easy concept to grasp, but when I've remembered this, I've been able to rise above challenges more easily and enjoy greater peace of mind. Not because my circumstances changed, but because I harnessed the power I have to feel however I choose to feel. Admittedly, I really struggle to do this, but the few times I've succeeded have been miraculous.

Our spirits long to live with that kind of faith, and I felt like God was inviting me to try it here. 

So that’s what I started doing. When I saw another hill in the distance, I didn’t psych myself up about it, I didn’t grapple for mindset tricks or tools to survive it, I didn’t scrounge for a mantra of strength to get me over it. I simply thought, “oh, there’s a hill”, and pedaled.

I repeated the words “empty and meaningless” a few times to plant the idea solidly into my brain as a guiding principle for the rest of my day, and then I turned off my thinker and let it go empty. 

Suffering ends when we relax into whatever challenges us, and my own suffering vanished when I viewed the hills, not as my tormentors, but just hills. The struggle didn't end, but the suffering did.

Kindness

The rain increased, but around mile 30 or 33, there was a break in the clouds, the sun broke through, the rain stopped, and there was wind at our BACKS for perhaps the first time on the whole trip - not just a gust, but a steady, generous, ongoing push.

The joy was profound. I stopped the bike in reverence to name the location. "Hold on, Monica! I have to stop!" There was no better word than “Kindness”, for that is where God let me experience true bliss. I didn't call the place "Bliss" because it wasn't the location that gave me the feeling... it was God, showing me kindness, that I wanted to remember most.

Did this happen because I had released the grip on my expectations? Was I finally ready to receive His kindness because I had stopped trying so hard and simply pressed forward with pure trust? Was he rewarding me for getting my mind calm and refusing to overthink, over prepare, and overanalyze everything?

That's how it felt. A reward of bliss for choosing to trust. 

My Own Sacred Grove

A little further along, Monica had moved far enough ahead until I could no longer see her. 

I remembered my original intention to feel appreciation, and there was much to be grateful for, so I stopped my bike again. I expressed a sincere, vocal prayer of thanks, and then asked - pleaded - with the Father to resolve a situation that had been weighing on me heavily. Feeling strengthened and renewed by His kindness, I expressed faith that He would heal it at the right time, and that I would trust Him and His timing.

My mind opened and I received a vision for what was possible. He reminded me of scriptures where one person's faith had an immediate effect on another person's affliction. It doesn't appear to matter how much faith the recipient had, or how aware they were of the prayer (which tells me how compassionate God must be). There is a long list in the scriptures of such occasions. Here are a few:

1. Jairus’ Daughter – Luke 8:41–42, 54–55
   “And, behold, there came a man named Jairus... and besought him... saying, Maid, arise. And her spirit came again, and she arose straightway.”

2. Centurion’s Servant – Matthew 8:5–13
   “Lord, my servant lieth at home sick... speak the word only... And his servant was healed in the selfsame hour.”

3. Syrophoenician Woman – Matthew 15:22–28
   “My daughter is grievously vexed... great is thy faith: be it unto thee even as thou wilt. And her daughter was made whole from that very hour.”

4. Friends Bring the Paralytic – Mark 2:3–5, 11–12
   “When Jesus saw their faith... he saith... Arise... And immediately he arose.”

5. Peter Raises Tabitha – Acts 9:36–41
   “Peter... kneeled down, and prayed... Tabitha, arise. And she opened her eyes... and he presented her alive.”

6. Abraham for Sodom – Genesis 18:23–32
   “Peradventure ten shall be found... I will not destroy it for ten’s sake.”

7. Abraham for Abimelech – Genesis 20:17
   “So Abraham prayed unto God: and God healed Abimelech...”

8. Moses for Israel – Exodus 32:11–14
   “Moses besought the Lord... And the Lord repented of the evil which he thought to do unto his people.”

9. Elijah and the Widow’s Son – 1 Kings 17:20–22
   “Elijah... cried unto the Lord... let this child’s soul come into him again... and he revived.”

10. Alma for Alma the Younger – Mosiah 27:14
    “The Lord hath heard the prayers of his servant Alma... for this purpose have I come to convince thee...”

11. Nephi for Deliverance from Famine – Helaman 11:10
    “O Lord, wilt thou... cause that this famine may cease... And it came to pass that the Lord did turn away his anger...”

12. Enos for His Brethren and Future Generations – Enos 1:9–17
    “I began to feel a desire for the welfare of my brethren... I will grant unto thee according to thy desires, because of thy faith.”

I felt invited to ask boldly for my heart's desire, so with fresh courage and confidence I did just that, and received what felt like a confirmation that my request had been heard and would be honored. Though I understand it may take time to see the effects, I was assured that the situation was healed in Norway. 

The scenery was breathtaking, and I was at peace. 

The final stretch

On the last straightaway before climbing into some pines, Layne and Jenn caught up to us (having paused earlier to deal with a mechanical) and got a selfie with us before zooming on.

The last 2 to 3 miles, as always, tested me. Knowing I was close made each hill feel longer than the last. But I chose not to speculate.

I cleared my mind, resisted the urge to wonder if the end was just over the next rise, and simply kept moving until we rolled into camp.

My takeaways

I set out hoping to find strength and wisdom, which I did. But not through striving, applying perfect mindset tactics, or having a clear strategy. I found them when I stopped trying so hard and simply chose to trust. I pedaled. I let my thoughts go empty and heaven filled them.

That’s when it came: bliss, peace, and a quiet miracle.

In God’s economy, trust is the currency, stillness is key, and sometimes the greatest power comes when we stop chasing empowerment altogether.

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