Today on my ride, as I was taking in the absolutely perfect weather, I started thinking about something my husband had said to me a few weeks ago.  It was at the height of the smoke storm that choked the valley.  I, like most people, had been whining and complaining about the smoke and how sick of it I was getting.  Apparently I had complained a bit too much, so one evening in the midst of my whining my husband said to me, "Get over it or get out of it."  That statement made me pause and think.  I could go somewhere to get out of the smoke.  Or I could stop whining about it, accept it, and know that it would go away soon.  I chose the latter option and just sucked it up for a few more days.  Sure enough, the temperatures cooled, the valley got some rain, and the smoke is nothing but a distant memory. 

A good friend of mine told me about when he first moved to the valley cyclists were few and far between.  My friend, being a cyclist, felt like a fish out of water.  He felt a general lack of acceptance towards cyclists.  He was faced with a choice: Get over it or get out of it.  Ride anyway, despite the malaise, or stop riding.  He kept riding.  Now there are more cyclists in the valley than ever before.  On our group rides, we actually count the number of friendly, unsolicited waves from motorists (motorists that wave at us before we have waved at them).  The number is usually in the double digits.  Most of the waves are full, open handed, side to side moving waves.  We do get some hand-on-the-steering-wheel-fingers-extended waves.  We also get the occassional one finger wave (not the middle finger malicious wave, the index finger "Hi how are you" wave).  On my ride today I got a wave that made me chuckle.  The driver had his hands at approximately 11:00 and 1:00 on the steering wheel, and lifted both index fingers to wave as he went by.  The effect was that it appeared as though his steering wheel had spotaneously sprouted horns.  Anyway, it made me smile, but I digress.  The point I am making here is that if we all would have stopped cycling here because of the lack of acceptance, we would be missing out.  We would miss participating in a sport that we love.  We would miss the comeraderie of our fellow cyclists.  We would miss seeing the spectacular scenery of the valley from our bicycles.  And we would miss tons and tons of waves!  Facing the choice of "Get over it or get out of it," I am glad we all chose to get over it.

This statement can apply to so many other facets of life, whether it be a job, relationship, living situation, health, or financial standing.  We always have a choice.  Get over it or get out of it.  Sometimes, even when we want to get out of it, circumstances prevent us.  Even then, we have a choice.  We can mope about the bad hand that we have been dealt, or we can find ways to make the best out of the situation (although complaining at times can't be all bad...it led to my husband's highly insightful comment).

The next time you are facing a choice, just remember: Get over it or get out of it.  You never know how many friendly waves you could be missing.