Climbing hills makes us stronger

We are so fortunate here in the South to enjoy breathtaking flowers at just about every turn. One of my favorite flowers this time of year is the hydrangea. It’s hard to miss their large showy blooms with a palette of beautiful colors and rich green leaves.

​When you closely examine a cluster of hydrangea blooms, it appears that a large and magical paintbrush has swooped down from the sky and painstakingly hand-colored each one of them individually. Their colors range from pure whites and cool blues to pale pinks and vivid fuchsias, to deep and regal purples — and, every possible color combination in between.

I’m very familiar with hydrangea blooms. I have painted and drawn many of them.

​The other day, I literally had my breath taken away when I came upon a yard full of these beauties. I was riding my bicycle up a steep hill in a neighborhood near my house. Out of the corner of my eye, I caught a glimpse of a group of hydrangeas that were mounded under a large tree. They looked like fluffy clouds of cotton candy in vivid colors.

I gasped as I flew down the other side of the hill. I quickly applied my brakes so I could turn around and get another gaze at these Southern delights.

Sitting at the bottom of the steep hill, I knew that I would have to climb back up the hill to reach them. I paused for a moment to decide if they were worth it. A few minutes and some extra sweat later, they greeted me again. Their beauty was definitely worth the extra effort!

When I’m riding my bike outdoors, sometimes for hours on end, I have plenty of time to soak in all the beauty of nature that crosses my path. It also gives me time to reflect on current issues I’m trying to understand or to solve. It is on my bike that I write many of my columns and draw or paint some of my creations — at least in my mind. I stop occasionally to jot down a note or an idea for me to refer to later.

Climbing hills is not a time I would come to a stop, because it literally takes so much energy to press each pedal, one by one, while slowly inching up the hill. You certainly can’t give up or quit midway. That is simply not an option. You just have to diligently continue on the tough path in front of you that leads to the top.

Sweat pouring and heart pounding, it is always cause for a mini-celebration when I arrive at the top because I know with each pedal stroke I’m becoming stronger than I was at the bottom.

Flying down the other side of the hill with the breeze blowing the salty sweat from my eyes, it occurred to me that we all have hills that rise in front of us in life that we have to tackle. At the foot of them, we don’t know if we have the strength needed to climb to the top, but we must dig deep and conquer it one step at a time. Any of life’s hills I’ve confronted head on have always left me not only stronger but also with a different view.

Recently, when I finished an extremely hilly route on my bike and rode into our back gate, I was once again greeted by the beautiful blue hydrangeas on the bushes we have in our backyard. We certainly don’t have as many blooms as we did last year because of the late freeze they endured.

Apparently, some of the blooms stood up against the cold — refusing to give in — and still blossomed. Maybe the cold spell was the hill they had to climb to offer us their beautiful blooms. Hills are not there to stop us. They are there to make us stronger!

This story was originally published June 2, 2017 at 6:46 AM with the headline "Climbing hills makes us stronger."